RG Kar case hearing LIVE: SC asks doctors to return to work, sets deadline
The court said the protesting doctors cannot be oblivious to the needs of the general community.
Exactly a month has passed since the body of a woman postgraduate trainee doctor, raped and murdered, was recovered from the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
While investigators still seem clueless about what led to the crime that has opened a can of worms, the Supreme Court on Monday (September 9) heard a suo-motu case as protests continue to rage across West Bengal, including capital city Kolkata.
What SC said
"Protest cannot be at the cost of duty," the Supreme Court said as it directed the West Bengal doctors protesting over the rape and killing of a postgraduate medic at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata to return to work immediately.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed the protesting doctors to return to work by 5 p.m. on Tuesday and assured them that no adverse action would be taken if they resumed duty.
"The state of West Bengal must take steps to create confidence in the minds of the doctors that their concerns regarding their safety and security are being duly attended to. In order to ensure this, all the district collectors and SPs (superintendents of police) shall take stock of the situation in all government medical colleges and public hospitals and provide adequate safety.
"We also direct that in the event the doctors return to duty on or before 5 pm (on Tuesday), no adverse disciplinary action should be taken against them. If there is continued abstention of work, there may be a likelihood of adverse action," the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.
The court said the protesting doctors cannot be oblivious to the needs of the general community. "Any protest cannot be at the cost of duty. The young doctors must now return and attend to the patients. We know what is happening on the ground. First, return to work. The district collectors and superintendents of police will ensure (your) safety. You have to now return to work," the bench said.
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