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Informist, Thursday, Aug 22, 2024

 

--SC to Bengal: Don't take coercive steps against protesting doctors 

--CONTEXT: SC hearing Kolkata junior doctor's rape, murder case 

--SC urges doctors to resume work; asks states to ensure public safety 

--SC: There should be no adverse action against doctors resuming work 

 

NEW DELHI – Upholding the right to organise peaceful demonstrations, the Supreme Court today asked the West Bengal government not to take any coercive action against doctors protesting against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a medical college in Kolkata. The top court also urged doctors, who are on strike, to resume work and asked states to ensure public safety. 

 

"...it is expected that doctors return to duties, pending the report of the NTF (National Task Force), all states shall ensure that states shall be alert of any apprehensions of violation of breach of safety," said the Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud. He said it was 13 days since the All India Institute of Medical Sciences doctors had not worked. "Please get to work... We have ensured no coercive action provided no protest after the date of today's order," said the Bench.

 

Remarking that justice and medicine cannot go on strike, Chief Justice Chandrachud said, "Can we go and sit outside the Supreme Court now?"

 

Further, the top court said that no adverse actions should be taken against doctors who are resuming their work. "An apprehension has been expressed by the doctors that some of them are being proceeded against with respect to protests that happened in the past. We have been assured that doctors will return to work and let there be no coercive action taken against doctors after they come back to work after the date of today's order," said the court.

 

The Supreme Court also directed that the secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare engage with the chief secretaries of West Bengal and Director General of Police of the state to ensure the safety of doctors once they resume work. Their discussions should be completed in 1 week and the state should take appropriate action within 2 weeks, the court said.

 

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta brought in a statement from Trinamool Congress leader Udayan Guha, who said that those pointing fingers at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be broken. Against this, advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, said that Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari had said if Banerjee did not resign, bullets would be fired the next day. Hearing these statements, Chief Justice Chandrachud asked the parties not to politicise the situation and let the law take its course. 

 

A 31-year-old junior doctor was found dead at the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Aug 9. Police had, thereafter, arrested a civic volunteer in connection with the case. There have been protests and strikes by doctors across several cities in the country over the matter. On Aug 13, the Calcutta High Court transferred the probe into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Thereafter, the top court took suo moto congizance of the case and formed a national task force to make recommendations on the safety and working conditions of medical professionals.

 

On Tuesday, the top court asked CBI to submit a status report by today on the progress of investigation of the crime. It had also asked the West Bengal government to give a status report on the progress of the investigation into vandalism at the hospital in the aftermath of the incident.

 

Today, after pursuing the status reports, the apex court questioned the West Bengal Police over the shortcomings in their investigation. The Bench, also comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala, said that the entire procedure followed by the police was something he had not come across in the last 30 years. Justice Manoj Misra, another judge on the Bench, termed the delay by the police in registering the unnatural death case as "extremely disturbing". 

 

The court questioned the sequence and timing of the legal formalities conducted by the police. It said it was surprising that the autopsy of the victim was conducted on Aug 9 between 1810 IST and 1910 IST before the registration of the unnatural death case. "It appears the crime scene was only cordoned off after postmortem at night. Why was there a delay in this aspect? You knew it was an unnatural death in the morning itself," Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

 

Further, the Bench questioned the reason for registering the first information report after a 14-hour delay. "The principal should have directly registered a FIR... The moment he tendered resignation he was appointed as a principal of another college," remarked the top court. 

 

The court noted that a request for conducting a polygraph test of the accused had been submitted to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sealdah, and it was under process. The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate shall pass orders on this application no later than 1700 IST on Friday, said the court.

 

The top court also took into consideration additional suggestions from various doctors' organisations such as institutionalisation of a distress call system, registering institutional first information report, and the constitution of a compensation distress fund. The court asked the task force constituted by it to consider all these suggestions. "We direct secretary in Ministry of Health in Union of India to open a portal on the ministry website where stakeholders can submit their suggestions before the committee," the court said.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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