New Delhi. The Supreme Court has expressed displeasure over the West Bengal government’s decision to stop women doctors from doing night duty. The Supreme Court has said that the government cannot do this. The court said that women will work at night and it is the government’s responsibility to provide them security. The Supreme Court heard the case of rape and brutal murder of a junior doctor on August 9 at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital on Tuesday, September 17.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court reprimanded the West Bengal government for its decision to end night duty of women doctors. The bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra said- How can you say that women cannot work at night? They do not want any concession. The government’s job is to provide them security. Women work at night in all professions like pilot, army etc.
On the court’s rebuke, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, on behalf of the West Bengal government, said that the government will withdraw its decision to limit the duty of women doctors to 12 hours and ban night duty. Along with this, in Tuesday’s hearing, the court has ordered Wikipedia to remove the name and picture of the dead junior doctor. The court said that the identity of the rape victim should not be disclosed. The Supreme Court will hold the next hearing on September 24.
The Supreme Court also raised questions on the appointment of security personnel from private agencies on contract for the security of doctors and others in hospitals. The court said that the people working on contract are given seven days of training and they roam around the entire hospital. How can security be ensured through them? The court said that the main accused in the rape and murder case is also a civic volunteer. The court said that there are 28 government hospitals and 45 medical colleges in Bengal, where very young girls work as interns and trainees. In such a situation, the deployment of security personnel on contract is completely unsafe. The Chief Justice further said that the state government should deploy police force in government hospitals and medical colleges. The court also expressed displeasure over the slow pace of installing CCTV cameras.