Amid unrelenting protests by the junior doctors in Kolkata, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, September 17, will resume its suo motu hearing over the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate doctor inside RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in the city on August 9.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the case from Kolkata Police on the directions of the Calcutta high court, will submit a confidential status report on the progress of investigation into the case to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. In addition to the rape and murder, the CBI is also investigating former principal of RG Kar Sandip Ghosh and others in relation to the crime and alleged financial irregularities in the hospital under their watch.
Senior lawyer Indira Jaising will represent the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Forum (WBJDF) at the Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday, news agency IANS reported.
Aniket Mahato, a prominent junior doctor and a key figure in the movement, has confirmed Indira Jaising’s role as counsel for WBJDF. Jaising is known for her efforts in advancing the practice of live-streaming Supreme Court proceedings, which was approved by a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
Additionally, senior counsel Karuna Nandi and Sabyasachi Chattopadhyay will represent the Joint Platform of Doctors, West Bengal, an association of senior doctors supporting the junior doctors’ protest.
The government of West Bengal will continue to be represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal.
What Supreme Court said so far?
During the last hearing on September 9, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked the protesting junior doctors to resume their duties by 5pm the next day. The court also promised to ensure that the state government does not take any adverse action against them but said it cannot ensure the same if the junior doctors refuse to resume their duties anymore.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors Front refused to heed the directions of the Supreme Court and vowed to continue their cease-work protest until their demands are met by the state government. Their march towards the health ministry headquarters Swasthya Bhavan lead to a stand-off with the Bengal government over conditions for talks. Talks continued to stall over demand to live stream the proceeding of talks with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, until both sides reached a common ground on Monday night.
Talks concluded early morning on Tuesday after what the government described as it last and “final attempt” to break the impasse.
The ruling Trinamool Congress government had been urging the junior doctors to resume their duties claiming over 7 lakh out-patient services have been affected in the state due to unrelenting protests.
The junior doctors welcomed Mamata Banerjee’s announcement about removing Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal, director of health services and the director of medical education from the post, describing it as their moral victory.
“We will continue with our ‘cease work’ and demonstration here at the ‘Swasthya Bhavan’ (health department headquarters) till the promises made by the CM materialise. We also look forward to Tuesday’s hearing in the Supreme Court in connection with the RG Kar rape-murder case,” one of the agitating doctors told PTI.
The Supreme Court had also asked the state government to take steps “to create a degree of confidence in the minds of the doctors that their concerns about their safety and security are really attended to”.
Since then, the state government has announced a host measures like increased deployment of CCTV cameras among others. The state has also promised to implement these out of the state government’s own funds.
(With inputs from agencies)