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Informist, Tuesday, Sep 17, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today expressed displeasure at the West Bengal government's notification saying women doctors should not be employed at night or for shifts exceeding 12 hours. The court asked the state not to implement any such condition "which casts a cloud on the basic premise of gender equality".

 

The notification by the West Bengal government came in the wake of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month. 

 

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said that instead of saying women doctors should not work at night, the state government should increase security for women. "How can you say women cannot work at night? Why limit the women doctors? They don't want a concession...Women are ready to work at exactly the same time shift," the chief justice said. "West Bengal should correct the notification. Your duty is to provide security, you cannot say that women (doctors) cannot work at night. Pilots, the Army, etc, all work at night..."

 

The court said that such conditions would impose obstacles to the careers of women doctors. Moreover, it would be inappropriate if women were given concession for hours of duty and the hours must be reasonable for all doctors, it said.

 

The court was hearing the suo moto case of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor in Kolkata on Aug 9. Police had, thereafter, arrested a civic volunteer in connection with the case. Several cities across the country saw protests and strikes by doctors over the case. On Aug 13, the Calcutta High Court transferred the probe into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI arrested former R.G. Kar Medical College principal Sandip Ghosh and Kolkata police officer Abhijeet Mondol in connection with its ongoing probe in the case.

 

The apex court today noted the suggestions by the victim's father on the leads that should be taken for investigation in the case, and said the father's inputs be taken into account by the CBI. The court took note of the assurance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the CBI would maintain contact with the victim's parents and address concerns about the status of the investigation. It also asked the protesting junior doctors who knew those present at the scene of the crime without authorisation to share their names with the CBI in a sealed cover. 

 

The Bench, also comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, also directed Wikipedia to take down posts of the victim in which her name has been published along with links redirecting users to her photographs. The court said this was to maintain the dignity and privacy of the deceased, in line with the governing principle that the identity of the victim in a rape and murder case would not be disclosed. 

 

The court observed that the progress of security measures in RG Kar Hospital was very slow. "You sanctioned 415 additional CCTV cameras but only 36 installed," it said. Appearing for the West Bengal government, advocate Kapil Sibal said this would be completed within two weeks. The Bench noted an affidavit filed by the state government's health department, ensuring steps taken to upgrade duty rooms, restrooms, toilet facilities, and the availability of CCTV cameras in government medical colleges and hospitals across the state.

 

"Thus, we have suggested to West Bengal that a team of collectors, district magistrate of each district, superintendent of police, principal of the medical college/hospital, representative of senior and junior doctor must be associated with the process so that work being carried out to create duty rooms, toilet facilities and put CCTV cameras is readily looked into," the court said. The state government had assured that this work would be completed in two weeks, the court said, adding that it had also said that biometric facilities would be put in place to restrict entry to duty rooms.

 

The court noted the statement of Indira Jaisingh, the advocate for the resident doctors, that there was a settlement reached between the state government and junior doctors on Monday, and this must be placed on record. It must be ensured that the junior doctors weren't victimised when they returned to work, Jaisingh said. The court noted the state government's assurance that no punitive action would be taken against doctors for the period during which they were off work. 

 

The bench also noted an affidavit by the resident doctors seeking the formation of a monitory committee at each hospital, a confidential grievance redressal mechanism, an internal complaint committee for sexual harassment, and counselling centres to deal with the stress faced by doctors. The court asked the state government to take action on this and noted that with these measures, junior doctors would have no problem in resuming work.

 

At the end of the hearing, a counsel was pressing for an application to remove Mamata Banerjee from the post of West Bengal chief minister. "We are not here to see what you feel about a political functionary. Your application is not our remit," Chief Justice Chandrachud said, refusing to interfere with the application.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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