199. Care should always be taken to record medical evidence so fully and intelligently as to render a second examination of the witness by another Court unnecessary. It is not enough for the witness to repeat mechanically the technicalities of an injury report or a post-mortem report. The presiding officer should see that there is a proper examination of the medical witness on all salient points e.g., if a man dies as a result of blows from an axe the state of his liver or other abdominal organs is immaterial but the nature of his wound is material; if from lathi blows the state of the skull (abnormal thinness for instance) or brittleness of bones is material, and rigor mortis or the contents of the stomach are often of importance as an aid to ascertaining the time of death if this is in dispute. The presiding officer should question him after his evidence is recorded, so as to make sure that he has understood and fully appreciated the evidence.
Note 1. - Post mortem and other medical reports should be formally proved. It is not necessary that the entire contents of the report should be taken down in evidence. It is sufficient for the medical witness to state explicity that the report embodies the observations he made at the time. Such formal proof of the report does not, however, absolve the presiding officer of the duty of directly examining the witness on the more important points.Note 2. - When a presiding officer suspects that an enquiry report in a medico-legal case or a post-mortem examination report is false he shall report it to the District Magistrate, who shall forward it to the Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals with such remarks as he sees fit to make.
