New Delhi. The Supreme Court has directed the doctors who have been protesting in Kolkata for the last one month to return to work. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud’s bench heard the matter on Monday and gave 24 hours to the doctors and said that they should return to work by 5 pm on Tuesday. The court said that if the doctors do not return to work, the state government will not be stopped from taking action against them. It is worth noting that a junior doctor was raped and murdered on August 9 in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital. Doctors have been protesting against it for a month.
Anyway, the matter was heard in the Supreme Court on Monday, September 9. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra heard three issues. The court heard the CBI investigation report, doctors’ strike and the issue of not providing facilities to CISF soldiers. The court said that many things came to light in the CBI’s status report. There was a delay of 14 hours in the FIR. Some important documents are also missing. In such a situation, the matter seems fishy. The court ordered the state government to present the missing documents in the court. The court has asked to present a new status report by September 17.
The court has asked the doctors to return to work immediately regarding the strike. The Chief Justice said – If the doctors do not return to duty by 5 pm on Tuesday, then the state government cannot be stopped from taking action against them. The profession of doctors is to serve the patients. Kapil Sibal, the lawyer appearing on behalf of the state government, had said that 23 people have lost their lives due to the doctors’ strike and six lakh people could not get treatment. However, on the facilities of CISF jawans deployed for the security of the hospital, the court ordered the Home Secretary of the state to provide houses to all the jawans to live. These jawans have come to protect the hospital. They should also be given additional security equipment. The next hearing of the case will be on September 17.