Lawyer of Sushant's family expresses doubt over AIIMS forensic report

New Delhi [India], October 7 : Advocate Vikas Singh, the lawyer of the family of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, on Wednesday wrote to the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) expressing doubt over the forensic report submitted by AIIMS Delhi team in the case and sought that matter be referred to another forensic team.
Singh, in his letter, said that the leaked report, if correct, amounts to drawing a biased and boastful conclusion from insufficient evidence.
The Medical Board of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences had earlier submitted a report on Sushant's death case directly to the CBI. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences' Forensic Medical Board confirmed that actor Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide.
"We have concluded our conclusive report. It is a case of hanging and death by suicide," Dr Sudhir Gupta, AIIMS Forensic Head had told ANI last week.
"I have been reading in the media about the report submitted by AIIMS to CBI with regard to the opinion expressed by CBI in the matter of the death of Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14, 2020. I have also seen some doctors who were part of the AIIMC team come on TV and make statements with regard to the forensic examination done by the team," the letter said.
Singh said that AIIMS was not doing a post-mortem report but was only to express its opinion with regard to the post-mortem report done by Cooper Hospital as AIIMS did not have the privilege of examining the body and thus forming a firsthand opinion about the cause of death.
"Dr Sudhir Gupta has been giving media interviews about the sensitive case right from day one, questioning the Cooper Hospital doctors for dubious autopsy and Maharashtra Police for hurried post-mortem and contamination and non-preservation of scene of crime," the letter said.
"The conduct of Dr Sudhir Gupta is unethical, unprofessional, in contravention of government service conduct rules and MCI guidelines. This criminal misadventure on his part has undermined public trust in a premier institution like AIIMS. It has created doubts in the minds of millions of people about the fairness of the investigation," it added.
Singh said that he feels that the forensic team of AIIMS has not given a categorical opinion on the flaws of the post-mortem done at the Cooper Hospital and have given a report which they were not supposed to do.
He said that the team was only to give their opinion on the manner in which the post-mortem had been done by the Cooper Hospital and whether a different opinion could be formed on the basis of the materials which have been made available to the AIIMS team or whether there was insufficient material for the AIIMS team to take a definitive opinion on the cause of death due to the lacunae in the original post-mortem done by the Cooper Hospital.
"I am accordingly of the firm opinion that this matter needs to be referred to another forensic team to be constituted by the CBI by picking up some of the best names in the field from different hospitals so that a fair and proper assessment takes place with regard to comments of the post mortem done by the Cooper Hospital and also whether the cause of death can be specified on the basis of the material available with the CBI," the letter said.