Overview

• The Uttarakhand High Court applied CrPC Section 389(1) to stay Dr Akash Yadav’s conviction under IPC Section 306 and his five-year rigorous imprisonment while his appeal is heard.
• Justice Ravindra Maithani’s order highlighted Yadav’s role at Indian Immunologicals Limited as vital to India’s vaccine production and overall public health strategy.
• Yadav was convicted in January by the Rudrapur sessions court for abetting his wife’s suicide, a verdict that had disqualified him from continuing his scientific work at the public sector unit.
• In granting the stay, the court drew on Supreme Court rulings in Navjot Singh Sidhu v State of Punjab (2007) and Rama Narang v Ramesh Narang (1995) to address the public interest implications of professional disqualification.
• Pending the final appeal, Yadav is now able to resume his duties at the PSU’s vaccine development division without the constraints imposed by the conviction.