By S&S Co. Advocates & Solicitors · Published 2 June 2026 · Informational content, not legal advice
About this article: A general explainer prepared by S&S Co. Advocates & Solicitors on a recurring type of dispute. It does not report a specific judgment or order, names no parties and gives no case citation, so it should not be cited as authority. Law and practice change; please verify against the current statute and primary sources before relying on it.
A patient or family can complain of medical negligence as deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. A consumer complaint is a civil proceeding, so it is decided on a preponderance of probabilities and not on the criminal standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt. The criminal standard of gross negligence discussed by the Supreme Court in Jacob Mathew v. State of Punjab (2005) relates to prosecution of a doctor, not to compensation before a consumer forum.
The test of a doctor's duty is whether they exercised the degree of skill and care that a reasonably competent practitioner in the same field would have exercised in the circumstances, as the Supreme Court explained in cases including Martin F. D'Souza v. Mohd. Ishfaq (2009) and V. Kishan Rao v. Nikhil Super Speciality Hospital (2010). Expert evidence is helpful but is not required in every case, particularly where the negligence is apparent from the records.
Commissions generally rely on contemporaneous treatment records, such as nursing notes, vital-sign charts and consent forms, and compensation is tied to proved loss, such as additional medical expenses and the harm suffered. A consumer complaint does not depend on the outcome of any criminal complaint, and the two proceedings are separate.