Civil Hospital struggles sans forensic expert; Khanna-based specialist fills gap
Ludhiana, one of the state’s largest cities with a consistently high crime rate, is facing a serious infrastructure deficit — its Civil Hospital has no permanent forensic expert to handle post-mortem examinations and medico-legal cases.
Despite receiving 30 to 40 medico legal cases daily and conducting 7–10 autopsies on an average, the hospital has been operating without a dedicated expert for nearly a year.
Though the district’s only forensic specialist is posted at Khanna and travels 40 km to Ludhiana three days a week and also steps in when urgently needed, hospital specialists from other departments are also juggling their core duties with forensic responsibilities.
In Punjab, post-mortem and MLC (medico-legal case) examinations are primarily conducted by government doctors and doctors from medical colleges while private doctors are not eligible to conduct legal autopsies so the entire burden of the district is on the lone forensic expert while not so complicated cases are being handled by the specialists from various departments of the Civil Hospital.
MLRs and autopsies are now being delayed due to the absence of an in-house forensic expert. Final post-mortem reports are taking up to 24 hours to be prepared, affecting police investigations and hospital workflow.
Previously Dr Charankamal had served as Ludhiana’s sole forensic expert since 2021. His transfer to Kharar in August last year left a glaring vacancy that has yet to be filled. In the meantime, the specialists from other departments, including Surgery, Orthopedics, ENT, Skin, Ophthalmology and Microbiology, have been forced to step in for post-mortem duties, often sacrificing their outpatient and departmental works.
The forensic crisis at the Civil Hospital is rippling beyond city borders. Dr Gurvinder Kakkar, the only forensic expert posted in the district, travels from Khanna to Ludhiana up to three days a week — and sometimes even more — to perform autopsies. As a result, a backlog of medico-legal cases has begun to pile up in Khanna, where his own hospital duties are suffering. “We receive four-five post-mortems at Khanna and when I am in Ludhiana these go to backlog,” he said.
Highlighting a possible solution, Dr Kakkar noted that doctors from Ludhiana’s two medical colleges — each with a forensic department — could assist with autopsies and medico-legal reporting (MLR) but they haven’t sought necessary government permissions or shown willingness to participate.
“If permissions were granted or interest shown, the workload could be shared. Otherwise, the government should consider converting the Civil Hospital into a medical college,” he said.
The shortage continues to affect both healthcare delivery and law enforcement investigations, prompting growing calls for systemic reform and staffing intervention.
A hospital specialist said: “We regularly have to leave our OPD and surgeries to perform autopsies. The hospital urgently needs a dedicated forensic expert.”
Police officials have also raised concerns, noting that post-mortem reports were vital to the progress of criminal investigations. “Ludhiana is a large city with a high crime rate. Delays in autopsy reports can severely affect legal proceedings. The Health Department must appoint a forensic expert here,” said an official.
Civil Surgeon Ramandeep Kaur acknowledged the issue and stated that a forensic specialist comes to Ludhiana three times a week and, when needed, he was called on request on other days as well.
MBBS doctors are authorised to conduct post-mortems. Hence, services are continuing on a daily basis as well.
“Nonetheless, we’ve written to the authorities concerned and are hopeful of getting an expert in coming months,” she said.
Ludhiana