Doctors protesting against a 31-year-old doctor’s rape and murder at a Kolkata hospital must resume their duties because the poor people of the country cannot be left in the lurch, the Supreme Court said today.
The bench, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, was hearing a batch of petitions related to the chilling crime that has shaken the nation.
At the start of the proceedings, a lawyer appearing for resident doctors in AIIMS Nagpur said the medicos are being marked absent because they are on protest.
“If they are on duty, they will not be marked absent and if they are not on duty, then law will be followed. Ask them to first return to work, no one will take adverse action against any doctor. If there is difficulty after that, then come to us, but let them first report to work,” the Chief Justice of India said.
He added that in some cases, people wait for as much as two years for doctors’ appointments. “Poor people cannot be left in the lurch.”
When a lawyer representing doctors from PGIMER Chandigarh said doctors are being victimised.
The Chief Justice reiterated that doctors must get back to duty first. “Once they get back to duty, we will prevail upon authorities to not take adverse action, else how will public health infrastructure run, if the doctors do not work,” the Chief Justice said, adding that the court’s assurance should satisfy the doctors.
The court assured the doctors’ representatives that all their concerns will be addressed by the National Task Force set up to make recommendations for improving doctors’ work conditions and ensuring their security.
“If we start asking representatives of various stakeholders to be part of committee then work of the committee gets dislocated, we know that the committee has senior women doctors and they have dedicated their life to public health infrastructure. The committee will hear everyone, interns, residents, senior residents, nurses, paramedical staff. The committee will ensure that all representatives are heard,” the bench said.
