Achutrao Haribhau Khodwa vs State Of Maharashtra And Ors on 20 February, 1996
6. A medical practitioner is not liable to be held negligent simply
because things went wrong from mischance or misadventure or through an
error of judgment in choosing one reasonable course of treatment in
preference to another. He would be liable only where his conduct fell
below that of the standards of a reasonably competent practitioner in his
field. For instance, he would be liable if he leaves a surgical gauze inside
the patient after an operation vide Achutrao Haribhau Khodwa & others
vs. State of Maharashtra & others, AIR 1996 SC 2377 or operates on the
wrong part of the body, and he would be also criminally liable if he
operates on someone for removing an organ for illegitimate trade.