Dubai: A court ruling to close a hospital where three unlicensed suspects were found practising medicine was reversed on Monday, after a lawyer argued that the law was implemented wrongly.

In January, the Dubai Appeal Court upheld the primary judgement to shut down the Dubai-based hospital and fined three Indian suspects Dh10,000 each for practising medicine without obtaining the required permits and licences from health regulators.

The hospital [represented by one of the defendants] was fined Dh20,000 and all the equipment related to the case was ordered to be confiscated, as per the appellate ruling.

On Monday, the Dubai Cassation Court overturned the appellate judgement and referred the case back to the Appeal Court for a new trial after lawyer Saeed Al Gailani contended that his client [the hospital] was not able to present a proper defence as well as a wrongful implementation of the law.

“The lower court [Appeal Court] implemented the law in an unlawful manner. The UAE laws pertinent to the medical field do not include a single article that authorises the closure of a hospital in cases related to unlawful practice of medicine. However, specialised medical centres or clinics can be subject to closure in case of the cancellation of the medical licences of doctors or technicians. This is why the lower courts [Misdemeanours and Appeal] took a wrong decision by closing the hospital,” advocate Al Gailani said in court.

“The court has cancelled the appellate ruling. A new bench of appellate judges will look into the case and hand out a new ruling,” said presiding judge Mustafa Al Shennawi on Monday.

Prosecutors had levelled different charges against five Indian suspects [including the hospital’s owner] aged between 26 and 50. The charges included practising unlicensed medicine, working in the medical field without obtaining the required permits, endangering people’s lives and aiding and abetting a crime.

The five suspects pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

The appeal court had terminated the licences of two of the defendants [to work in the medical field] and barred their names from the medical registry. Two other suspects, a worker and a doctor, were acquitted of any wrongdoing.

Court records said health inspectors discovered that the suspects were practising medicine without a licence at the hospital and without obtaining the required permits during a random inspection of an operation room.

The inspectors carried out their random visit following complaints to the health authorities’ customer care section in 2013.

During Monday’s hearing, advocates Al Gailani, Yaqoub Shahin and others argued before the Cassation Court’s bench of five judges that the lower courts [Appeal and Misdemeanours] breached the suspects’ right to defend themselves.

The lawyers argued that the hospital should not be shut down because one doctor committed a mistake or breached the medical laws.

“There are more than 50 beds in the hospital, where hundreds of doctors and staffers work in different specialised medical fields using the most advanced and sophisticated equipment. They also carry out different sorts of medical services and surgeries. It is impossible for such a hospital with such a modernised capacity to hire a cleaner [one of the suspects] to work as an anesthesia specialist,” argued Al Gailani.