AMHERST, N.S. — A Nova Scotia court has dismissed a sexual assault charge against a former doctor after the Crown determined there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. The Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service says the Crown told Amherst provincial court last Thursday it would not be calling any evidence against Sanjeev Sirpal. The dismissal comes more than a year after Nova Scotia RCMP charged Sirpal with sexual assault in August 2025, related to allegations at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre near Amherst, N.S., from January of the same year. Sirpal’s lawyer in the case, Stanley MacDonald, said in an email the case was dismissed because the Crown did not provide any evidence against his client. MacDonald declined to comment further. Sirpal also worked as a doctor in New Brunswick and Quebec. He faces another sexual assault charge related to an alleged incident at the health centre on Jan. 8, 2025, as well as an additional sexual assault charge in New Brunswick. Sirpal was a physician in New Brunswick and a member of the Atlantic Registry, allowing him to practice in all four Atlantic provinces, when the alleged offences occurred. The Quebec college of physicians revoked Sirpal’s permit in 2022, after concluding that he had provided fraudulent information when applying. He appealed the decision but lost. The U.S.-born former doctor was removed from the Atlantic Registry in March 2025 and the New Brunswick physicians’ college suspended his medical licence in August 2025. The Crown previously withdrew another sexual assault charge against Sirpal in Amherst provincial court in January. In September, the Crown in New Brunswick also dropped a sexual assault charge against Sirpal in Edmundston Provincial Court, saying there was no longer a reasonable likelihood of conviction. A trial is scheduled next month in Amherst Supreme Court for Sirpal’s remaining charge in Nova Scotia. A second trial for the New Brunswick charge is set for April 2027 in Moncton Provincial Court. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026. The Canadian Press
