Post-Mortem Can Be Conducted In Hospitals Even After Sunset With Adequate Infrastructure: Health Ministry

It is likely that the new procedure will promote organ donation and transplant as now organs can be harvested in the stipulated time window, the health said.

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New Delhi: The Centre has allowed post-mortems to be conducted at hospitals with adequate infrastructure even after sunset Monday onwards. But not cases of homicide, suicide, rape, decomposed bodies and suspected foul play, reported PTI.

It is likely that the new procedure will promote organ donation and transplant as now it can be harvested in the stipulated time window, the health ministry said.

Referring to the development, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in a tweet in Hindi said, "An end to the system put in place by the British! Post-mortem can be conducted round-the-clock. In furtherance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea of good governance, the health ministry has decided that post-mortem can be conducted even after sunset in hospitals which have the facility to carry out the procedure at night."

The health ministry said that these changes were made in response to the various references received by it to promote ease of living and burden imposed by following government processes compliance.

"In response to the multiple references received by the Union Health Ministry from various sources and in line with the government's commitment to promoting ease of living by reducing the burden imposed due to compliance to government processes, changes have been made in the post-mortem protocols to allow for the procedure to be conducted after sunset effective from today," the health ministry said.

After different representations from the ministry were examined by a technical committee in the Directorate General of Health Services, Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

It was learned that some institutes are already performing night-time autopsies. 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 now feasible, the ministry said.

The protocol stipulates that post-mortem for organ donation be taken up on priority and conducted even after sunset at the hospitals which have the infrastructure for conducting such post-mortem on a regular basis, it said.

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

The Health Ministry also said that the health-in charge will assess the fitness and adequacy of infrastructure, among others to ensure that there is no dilution of evidentiary value.