Court Quashes Mudaliar Conviction

The Supreme Court has quashed the conviction of Dr Sachida Mudaliar who was jailed for three years for manslaughter in 2006.

Dr Mudaliar who caused the death of a 22yr old USP student, Poonam Pritika Kumar has also been granted a new trial by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruled that there was a miscarriage of justice by trial judge Justice Anthony Gates and the Fiji Court of Appeal Judges, who failed to adduce fresh evidence from two overseas medical practitioners.

The three Judges Justice Keith Mason, Justice Kenneth Handley and Justice Mark Weinberg said the evidence given by some overseas experts were contradictory.

The defence counsel in this case Mudaliars lawyer maintained throughout the trial, that Poonam Pritika Kumar already had a miscarriage before she went to see Dr. Mudaliar.

The three judges in their ruling said that some overseas experts did highlight that there was a possibility that Poonam already had a miscarriage before she went to see Mudaliar and that the High Court and the Appeals court did not fully analyize this part of the evidence while handling the case.

They ruled that the conviction on the count of manslaughter be quashed and the sentence set aside.

The court also noted that Mudaliar has already served his term.