The Supreme Court on Tuesday constituted a National Task Force of doctors to recommend measures to ensure safety in the workplace for medical professionals, Live Law reported.
The court on Sunday took suo motu cognisance of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital amid the growing outrage over the crime. The 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead at the medical institute on August 9.
At Tuesday’s hearing, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the court was concerned about the “virtual absence of conditions of safety for young doctors in public hospitals, especially women doctors who are more vulnerable because of the nature of work and gender”, reported Live Law.
The court noted that while several states such as Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana have laws to deal with violence against doctors, they do not address deficiencies in institutional safety standards.
“As more and more women join the workforce, the nation cannot wait for another rape for things to change on the ground,” the bench said.
The task force has been asked to submit an interim report within three weeks and a final report within two months.
The panel comprises R Sarin, the Surgeon Vice Admiral of the Indian Navy, Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, Dr M Shreenivas, Dr Pratima Murty, Dr Goverdhan Dutt Puri, Dr Saumitra Rawat, Professor Anita Saxena, Professor Pallavi Sapre and Dr Padma Srivastava.
The bench identified several problems faced by medical professionals including lack of adequate rooms to rest, and separate duty rooms for women and men. The bench said that interns, residents and senior residents are made to do 36-hour shifts where basic conditions of hygiene and sanitation are often absent.
Also read: Rape, murder of Kolkata doctor highlight failure of workplace safety provisions for women
Court questions West Bengal government
The Supreme Court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to submit a status report in the Kolkata rape and murder case by Thursday.
On August 13, the Calcutta High Court transferred the case to the central investigative agency. The High Court had also asked the West Bengal government why it had initially registered the doctor’s death as a suicide.
The West Bengal government was also asked to submit a status report on the investigation into the violence at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 15. The protestors, including doctors, were attacked by the mob.
On Tuesday, the bench also asked the state government how a mob had entered and vandalised the hospital premises. “The West Bengal government was expected to maintain law and order and protect the crime scene, unable to comprehend why the state could not do so,” the court observed, The Indian Express reported.
It asked the Trinamool Congress government to ensure that vandals are arrested and that a first information report is filed against them.
Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, representing an organisation of doctors called “Protect the Warriors”, also told the bench that a group returned to the medical institute after the vandalism took place on August 15 and threatened the women doctors, Live Law reported.
The group asked the doctors not to complain about the incident, saying they would meet the same fate as the junior doctor if they did, Singh claimed.
In response, the bench said: “The West Bengal government cannot be unaware of the fact that when there are protests, the other segment will always try and disrupt it.”
It added: “This is not an ordinary complaint which has been made to us now. What is the police doing?”
The bench said that it would order the Central Industrial Security Force to provide security to the hospital and the hostel. “It is essential to create safe conditions for the doctors so as to return to their duties, so that they not only pursue their medical education but also administer medical care,” the court said in its order.
“Accordingly, we are assured by SG [Solicitor General] Tushar Mehta that CISF [Central Industrial Security Force] shall be deputed in sufficient strength to guard the facilities at RG Medical college, including the hostels where the resident doctors are staying,” it said.
The court also questioned the state government over the conduct of the college principal for passing the murder as suicide and the delay in the registration of the FIR in the rape and murder case.
“FIR is registered at 11.45 at night?” the bench said. “Nobody at the hospital registers the FIR? What were the authorities at the hospital doing? Doesn’t autopsy reveal the victim was raped and murdered?”.
The bench told the West Bengal government not to take coercive action against peaceful protestors and those speaking up in media and social media, Live Law reported.
“Let us deal with them [protestors] with great sensitivity,” the bench said. “This is a moment for national catharsis.”
Also read: Why sexual harassment goes unchecked on Indian campuses
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