Kolkata, Oct. 5 -- Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's lawyer Arka Kumar Nag on Monday issued a legal notice to SSKM Hospital seeking an explanation on how her medical records from 2021 allegedly reached Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and were subsequently made public.
The notice, sent to the Director, Medical Superintendent-cum-Vice Principal and Head of the Neurology department of IPGME&R, raised concerns over the alleged breach of medical confidentiality and informational privacy.
The notice refers to a medical report dated March 11, 2021, issued by the Department of Radio Diagnosis at Bangur Institute of Neurosciences. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had displayed the document during a press conference on October 3 and claimed it showed no evidence of a fracture or dislocation in Mamata's leg contrary to her account of sustaining an injury during the 2021 Nandigram election campaign. Nag sought to know whether any medical records pertaining to Mamata had been placed before the Chief Minister and, if so, the legal procedure followed in sharing them. The notice also sought action if the records were disclosed without due process.
Meanwhile, Adhikari, in a warning to Mamata's lawyer, said she had left all documents behind in her drawer after expecting to become Chief Minister for a fourth term. He did not clarify whether the medical records had been obtained from the drawer. He also warned that X-ray and MRI reports could be made public if required.
Citing the right to privacy under Article 21 and medical confidentiality provisions, the lawyer argued that lawful access to medical records does not automatically permit their public disclosure.
The notice also referred to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and urged the hospital to preserve the confidentiality of Mamata's medical records.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.