Gujarat High Court Criminal Manual (subordinate court practice), 1977
(1) Court summoning Medical Officer as witness should be careful to fix such a date for attendance as will enable the Officer summoned to attend in time. Whenever the attendance as a witness of a Medical Officer in charge of a dispensary is likely to entail a prolonged absence from his duties, the summoning the witness should make a communication to the Civil Surgeon in order that Officer may, if possible, make arrangements for carrying on the duties of the witness during his absence. (2) Ordinarily the doctor personally familiar with the facts of the case and the condition of the patient at the relevant time, should be summoned for evidence in the Court, irrespective of his status in the hospital. Subject to this consideration, a lower Medical Officer should ordinarily be preferred to a higher one, and a stipendiary Medical Officer to an honorary Medical Officer, for evidence, but this must be done with due regard to the inadmissibility of hearsay evidence and the provisions of the Evidence Act. Court should mention in the summons issued to a Medical Officer the name of the patient examined, the date of the examination and if available, the medicolegal case register number in respect of the patient examined. The time when the medical witness is required to be present in the Court for giving evidence should be mentioned in the summons. (3) The evidence of Medical Officer under orders of transfer should whenever possible be taken before he hands over charge. (4) The Court should, if practicable, give priority to examine, the Medical Officer so as not to detain such Officer any longer than is necessary. (5) It is not desirable that the Medical Officers in the districts should be summoned or called from their respective dispensaries more frequently for longer period than is absolutely necessary. In fixing the time and date care should be taken that the medical witnesses can be examined at the time stated in the summons.