Overview

• The Supreme Court declined to entertain the cardiologist’s application for suspension of his life sentence, and his lawyer subsequently withdrew the plea.
• A trial court convicted the doctor for sexually assaulting his seven-year-old daughter during a March 2018 trip to Haldwani while intoxicated.
• The bench, led by Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma, branded the offence perverse and unsuited for any relief.
• The child’s testimony was upheld as reliable after withstanding cross-examination, countering defence claims that her statements were coached.
• The doctor’s appeal remains pending before the Allahabad High Court amid a backlog of over 1.2 million cases that could delay any further hearings.