The stereotype of doctors having poor handwriting is common around the world — including in India, where it recently became a significant issue in a serious case involving sexual exploitation.

Mr Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri of the Punjab and Haryana High Court said it “shook the conscience of this court” that “not even a word or letter” of a medico-legal report submitted by a government doctor was legible, the BBC reports.

“At a time when technology and computers are easily accessible, it is shocking that government doctors are still writing prescriptions by hand which cannot be read by anybody except perhaps some chemists,” he continued.

The judge went on to ask the government to introduce handwriting lessons in medical school and roll out a digital prescriptions system within two years.

In the meantime, he said all doctors should write prescriptions clearly in capital letters.