Mumbai: A trust that runs Saifee Hospital in Mumbai had filed a defamation suit for Rs 125 crore against Dr. Asiya Khan Luqman, alleging she falsely defamed the hospital through social media posts.
According to Hindustan Times, on September 2, Dr. Asiya was suspended by Saifee Hospital over her shortcomings regarding unauthorized leaves and work conduct at the hospital.
On September 3, 2026, the trust filed a defamation suit against Dr. Asiya, who was a first-year DNB General Surgery Trainee.
A single-judge bench of the Bombay High Court, headed by Justice Arif Doctor, also directed Dr. Asiya to refrain from publishing further allegedly defamatory material concerning the hospital on social media while the matter is pending.
The hospital said that Dr. Asiya’s posts on social media were false. According to the hospital, allegedly she made serious allegations of harassment and mental torture against doctors of the hospital through her social media.
Through her posts, Dr. Asiya alleged Saifee Hospital for overworking its Trainee doctors, not giving them any weekly offs, ragging and mistreatment of the doctors in the institution. She also tagged Mumbai Police and a few other upper authorities.
The trust said that Dr. Asiya made false allegations so that the hospital could surrender to her personal demands.
In February 2026, Dr. Asiya Khan Luqman joined as a first year DNB Surgery Trainee at Saifee Hospital in Charni Road, Mumbai.
According to the hospital, the problems arose due to Dr. Asiya’s misconduct on the hospital premises. The hospital said that she took leave without informing her co-workers or her seniors. They also highlighted many instances where she took leave without authorization which affected the department’s workflow and patient related responsibilities.
According to the hospital's account, in a June 3 letter to NBEMS, it alleged that Dr. Asiya had not attended to a single patient since May 20, was not found at her workplace during working hours and had not responded to memos seeking an explanation.
The National Board of Examinations and Sciences (NBEMS) was also informed aboutthe issues with the trainee doctor.
The hospital said that Dr. Asiya was also given a chance to put her side of the story in front of the committee and specific issues regarding her performance were addressed in the meeting with the hospital’s grievance redressal mechanism.
The disagreements further escalated when Dr. Asiya alleged that she couldn’t even get her weekly off on Sunday. The hospital said that she was already informed that the Saifee Hospital is a 24*7 operating a health facility and that she would be required to work according to the hospital’s requirements.
According to the hospital, on July 1, Dr. Asiya asked the hospital’s medical director to grant her Sundays off exclusively.
According to Hindustan Times, “Such reckless and unsupported imputations cannot be permitted to be used as a device to tarnish the hospital’s reputation. This is not only likely to affect patient intake at the hospital but is also likely to discourage future resident doctors from joining the hospital, and will have a direct impact on the hospital’s highest revenue earning department. The defendant’s defamatory statements had a direct and substantial impact on the trust’s character and reputation,” the trust’s suit claimed.
According to Hindustan Times, Advocate Satyam Singh, who was representing Dr. Asiya Khan, said that reporting problems regarding long working hours and other workplace issues to the authorities is a legal right and not defamation.
Her lawyer also said that she does not want to get into a legal battle. According to Advocate Satyam, Dr. Asiya wants to continue her DNB course in accordance with training regulations.
(Rh/ARC)