• The Bombay High Court allowed YouTuber Salim Shaikh to continue reporting on a medical negligence case involving a woman from whose abdomen a surgical gauze piece was allegedly removed after a caesarean surgery.
• Justice Arif Doctor restrained Shaikh from calling Mumbai's Habib Hospital a "kattalkhana" (slaughterhouse) or suggesting that it was involved in murder while a ₹1,000-crore defamation suit remains pending.
• Habib Esmail Hospital & Medical Trust told the court that no surgery was performed at its facility and maintained that the alleged negligence occurred at an earlier private hospital.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday allowed Mumbai-based YouTuber Salim Shaikh to continue reporting on an alleged medical negligence case but directed him not to make defamatory statements against Habib Hospital in Dongri. The order came during the hearing of a ₹1,000-crore defamation suit filed by Habib Esmail Hospital & Medical Trust over videos and social media posts related to a woman from whose abdomen a surgical gauze piece was allegedly removed after a caesarean surgery.
Justice Arif Doctor clarified that Shaikh could report on the alleged negligence case but should not publish allegations, imputations, or insinuations describing the hospital as a "kattalkhana" or suggesting that it was complicit in murder while the matter is pending before the court.
According to Hindustan Times, the woman underwent a caesarean surgery at another private hospital in Dongri in May and was admitted to Habib Hospital on May 28 after developing complications.
Habib Esmail Hospital & Medical Trust told the court that its medical team proposed an emergency exploratory laparotomy after obtaining consent from the woman and her husband. The operation, however, did not proceed after her relatives asked doctors to stop the intervention.
The Trust further stated that a CT scan indicating a foreign object in the patient's abdomen was made available to its clinicians only the following morning. After reviewing the report, they advised transferring her to a higher medical centre. She was subsequently moved to Saifee Hospital, where a surgical gauze piece was allegedly removed.
Also see: NCDRC Redefines Medical Negligence: Simple Errors No Longer Count
A retained surgical item, such as a gauze sponge left inside the body after an operation, is widely regarded as a preventable medical error. It can lead to infection, persistent pain, inflammation, bowel complications, and, in some cases, additional surgery to remove the object.
To reduce such risks, surgical teams routinely count sponges and instruments before closing an incision and verify that no materials remain inside the patient.
In the present case, Habib Esmail Hospital & Medical Trust told the court that no operation was performed at its facility and maintained that the alleged negligence stemmed from an earlier procedure at another private hospital.
Also see: The Difference Between Medical Malpractice and General Medical Errors
According to Hindustan Times, advocates Akshay Pai and Siddhi Bhosale, appearing for Habib Esmail Hospital & Medical Trust, placed excerpts from Salim Shaikh's videos before the court and argued that the content was defamatory. After reviewing the material, Justice Arif Doctor observed that certain portions were "per se defamatory."
Shaikh subsequently informed the court that he would edit the videos and remove the objectionable remarks.
The High Court clarified that he could continue reporting on the incident but should not publish allegations, imputations, or insinuations suggesting that the Trust was complicit in murder or describing the hospital as a "kattalkhana" while the ₹1,000-crore defamation suit is pending.
(Rh/TP/MSM)
