The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the West Bengal government that women doctors cannot be restricted from working night shifts or in shifts longer than 12 hours, Bar and Bench reported.
This came after the state government told the bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, that it had notified such rules as part of its security measures to ensure the safety of medics at work.
The bench was hearing a suo motu case relating to the rape and murder of a 31-year-old resident doctor at Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August.
“Women do not want concessions, but equal opportunities,” Chandrachud told the Trinamool Congress government. “They are willing to work in all conditions…Your duty is to provide security.”
The chief justice added: “We cannot tell any woman today in our country, who is in the workforce, that you will not work at night.”
The state government said it will correct its notification.
A group representing junior doctors in the state, who have been on strike to protest their colleague’s rape and murder, told the court on Tuesday that they were willing to return to work after meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday, reported Live Law.
After the meeting, Banerjee announced that Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and other senior officials would be removed from their posts as per the doctors’ demands.
The doctors’ group also asked the Supreme Court to pass directions for establishing broad-based monitoring committees in each hospital, in addition to confidential grievance redressal systems, internal complaints committees to deal with sexual harassment, and counselling centres.
“Each of these aspects would merit serious consideration,” the court said. “We impress upon the state of West Bengal to take remedial action if not already done, within a period of three days from this order.”
The court also remarked that the details about the junior doctor’s rape and murder, submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a report, were “disturbing”.
The bench did not disclose details from the report because they might jeopardise the investigation and said that there was still time left for the agency to file its chargesheet.
The Supreme Court also directed the website Wikipedia to remove the 31-year-old medic’s name and photograph from its page about the incident, reported Live Law.
The court was told that Wikipedia had refused to delete the information, saying they could not be censored. The solicitor general said that the law required the identity of a rape victim to be kept anonymous.
Wikipedia was directed to comply with the orders of the court, which had passed an order last month to remove the victim’s identifiers from social media.
Also read:
- Have the Kolkata rape-murder protests dented Mamata’s women support base?
- Why protesting doctors in Kolkata distance themselves from student body with RSS links
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!