- (1.) Petitioner has challenged an order dated 05.01.2019 passed by the disciplinary authority imposing punishment of 5% reduction in pension for a period of 5(five) years.
(2.) Brief facts are as under: At the relevant time the petitioner was working as a Registrar, Department of Surgery at Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) and G.B.P. Hospital, Agartala. According to the department, one patient Sri Ratan Das (aged about 45 years) was admitted at the said hospital on 04.09.2013 in the M.S.-I ward under Surgical Unit No.III under the advice of Dr. Niladri Sengupta, i.e. the petitioner, the Registrar of the Surgical Unit with a diagnosis of "growth urinary bladder wall" with ultrasonography and other documents. In the same hospital another patient also by the name of Ratan Das (aged about 53 years) had approached with the complaint of vestibular growth. He was to be admitted on 04.09.2013 for removal of the growth and for biopsy. He was actually admitted with such complaint. However, on 06.09.2013 said patient Ratan Das, 53 years old, was operated mistakenly on urinary bladder. This incident came to light a couple of days later through news reports. The Government constituted a three member committee headed by the Director of Health Services, Tripura who inquired into the matter and submitted the report prima facie attaching responsibility on the Surgeons, Doctors and the support staff who had admitted and operated on the patient. The petitioner being one of them, was served with the show-cause notice dated 30.09.2013 why appropriate action for negligence should not be taken against him.
(3.) Eventually a departmental charge-sheet came to be issued against the petitioner on 08.04.2015 alleging that he along with other 7(seven) doctors and para-medical staff had committed misconduct. As per the Articles of Charge and the imputation of misconduct it was alleged that the petitioner who was the Registrar of the Department of Surgery, had attended the patients and not taken proper care to ensure that the error does not occur.;