Govt likely to allow post-mortem after sunset in certain hospitals

The Centre is likely to allow conducting post-mortem after sunset in hospitals with proper infrastructure, except for cases of homicide, suicide, rape, decomposed bodies and suspected foul play, sources said.

The aim is also to push for post-mortem for organ donation even after sundown if adequate infrastructure is available, they said.

The issue of conducting post-mortem after sunset was examined by a technical committee in the Directorate General of Health Services under the Union Ministry of Health recently, a source said.

During the meeting, it was discussed that some institutes were already performing night-time post-mortem.

In view of the rapid advancement and improvement in technology, especially availability of required lighting and infrastructure required for post-mortem, performing night time post-mortem in hospitals is feasible, an official source said.

"The discussion was in favour of allowing conducting of post-mortem in hospitals with proper infrastructure. The fitness and adequacy of infrastructure, among others, shall be assessed by the hospital in-charge to ensure that there is no dilution of evidentiary value," the source stated.

However, cases under categories such as homicide, suicide, rape, decomposed bodies and suspected foul play should not be subjected for post-mortem during night time unless there is a law and order situation, the source said.

Also, video recording of post-mortem will be done for all night post-mortem to rule out any suspicion, and preserved for future reference for legal purposes.