New Delhi:

A doctor, who terms homosexuality a “genetic mental disorder” and uses electric shock to treat gay and lesbian people, has been summoned by a Delhi court as an accused for violating norms.

Though Dr P K Gupta was debarred by the Delhi Medical Council (DMC), he was still indulging in this bizarre practice. The court took note of a complaint against Gupta by the DMC, which claimed he was using hormonal and shock therapy in treatment.

The complaint said the DMC had debarred Gupta in 2016 from practising in Delhi and as he was still projecting himself as a doctor, he was liable for prosecution.

Metropolitan magistrate Abhilash Malhotra said treatment given by doctors as a part of “conversion therapy” was not recognised either by medical science or by legislature. Conversion therapy is an attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation using psychological or spiritual interventions.

The court summoned the doctor as accused saying he was prima facie found to be contravening a provision of the Indian Medical Council Act, which entails a maximum of one-year jail. “It is clear that treatment given by doctors as a part of ‘conversion therapy’ is not recognised either by the medicine or by the legislation,” the magistrate said. AGENCIES