Mohan was an Engineer by profession. He was a bachelor and had lost his parents in an accident, when he was a small child. In 1995, Mohan met with a terrible accident where he was involved in a car crash, in which is legs were stuck in the debris. He had lost his consciousness also. After a great deal of effort, doctors managed to extricate him from the debris. But, he remained in a coma. There was no improvement in his condition till March 2005. The doctors treating him were in a fix as to whether they should turn off his life support system.

On April 10, 2005, a young girl was admitted to the hospital in which Mohan was being treated. She had multiple organ failure and required an urgent kidney and liver transplant. Mohan was known to be an activist who, before his accident, fought for the cause of organ transplantation. He had even received awards for his work in encouraging people to donate their kidneys and eyes. The doctors (a team of eight) took a decision to remove one of Mohan’s kidneys and a part of his liver and transplant it into the young girl. After the surgery was completed, Mohan miraculously regained consciousness. He sought to prosecute the doctors who operated on him and contended that the doctors were, inter alia, guilty of various offences under India Penal Code. Address the following issues:

(i) Mohan seeks to prosecute the doctors under Section 379 of IPC. He also seeks to prosecute them under Section 392 and 395 of IPC. Will he succeed? Give reasons.

(ii) Can the doctors take up necessity as a defence? Give cogent reasons.      (10 marks)