Kolkata rape-murder case: Despite the Supreme Court’s direction to the protesting medics to resume their work by 5 pm on Tuesday, agitating junior doctors said they would continue their ‘cease work’ to demand justice for the RG Kar Hospital trainee doctor who was raped and murdered within the hospital. The Supreme Court had directed the doctors on Monday to resume work to avoid adverse action by the state government.
The protesting medics have demanded the resignation of the state’s health secretary and director of health education. The doctors have also said they would take out a rally to ‘Swasthya Bhavan’, which is the headquarters of the health department in Salt Lake on Tuesday noon.
Junior doctors have been observing ‘cease work’ at state-run hospitals for nearly a month now, demanding justice for the rape and murder of the doctor while in the hospital. The incident has not only triggered protests in Kolkata and West Bengal, but across the country too.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government assured the apex court that no action, including punitive transfers, would be ordered against protesting doctors if they resume work.
RG KAR CASE: WHAT SUPREME COURT SAID
The apex court had voiced concern over the missing key document – a challan – forwarding the body of the deceased junior doctor for postmortem from government records. The court said there was no reference to the challan issued before the postmortem and sought answers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court highlighted the importance of the challan that documented the clothes and articles that were sent along for the autopsy.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, informed the bench that the challan was not part of their records. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, told the bench that he could not find the document immediately and would get back to the court on this question.
The court also flagged the 14-hour delay by Kolkata Police in registering an FIR following the rape and murder incident. The top court directed the CBI to submit a fresh status report by September 17 on its probe in the case.
Senior advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for the agitating doctors, voiced concern about the circulation of photos of the victim on social media, prompting the court to order their immediate removal from all social media platforms to protect the dignity and privacy of the deceased.
Amid the growing clamour over security at medical institutions in the state, the Supreme Court ordered all district magistrates and superintendents of police in West Bengal to take stock of the situation and ensure safety and security of government medical colleges.
The court also directed the protesting doctors to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday after the West Bengal government assured the bench that it would not take adverse action if the doctors returned to work.