"If women cannot go to a place of work and be safe, then we are denying them the basic conditions of equality."- This was said by CJI while hearing a matter of the rape and murder of a woman resident doctor found in the state-run R.G. Kar Hospital's seminar room, Kolkata on 9 August 2024.
The Kolkata Police arrested an accused, a civic volunteer, on the next day, 10 August 2024. However, the Calcutta High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation after expressing a lack of satisfaction with the Kolkata Police.
The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of this RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata rape and murder case. The case is titled In Re: Alleged Rape and Murder of Trainee Doctor in RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata and related issues. Let's see what the Supreme Court has said in this Kolkata doctor case.
1. SC slams WB Govt.
The Court heavily criticized the West Bengal government and the hospital management for not taking immediate action and for delaying filing an FIR. The crime was detected early in the morning, and an FIR was filed only late that night.
The bench also criticized the West Bengal police for their inaction in curbing a mob's damaging the hospital after the incident happened and when the doctors were exercising their right to peaceful protest the next day.
2. Creation of 10-member National Task Force (NTF)
The Supreme Court made a National Task Force comprising doctors all over the country to give recommendations on the modalities to be followed all over the country to ensure the safety of medical professionals
The Court mentioned that states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu have made laws to protect doctors from violence. But, these laws do not address deficiencies in institutional safety standards.
The NTF shall make recommendations regarding the safety, working conditions and well-being of medical professionals. The Court directed the NTF to recommend suggestions focused on:
A. Preventing violence, including gender-based violence against medical professionals;
B. Create a protocol for safe working conditions for interns, residents, senior residents, doctors, nurses and all medical professionals.
The NTF must furnish an interim report in 3 weeks and a final report within 2 months.
3. Safety issues for Doctors
The Court stated that they had taken up this case because it deeply concerned the larger question of the safety of members in the medical profession at large. The Supreme Court pointed out several problems, such as:
-
Doctors working at night don't have good places to rest, and there aren't separate rooms for women and men.
-
Interns and other medical staff have to work 36-hour shifts without clean places to work.
-
Many hospitals don't have enough security.
-
Medical staff often don't have enough bathrooms to use.
-
The places where medical staff can stay are too far from the hospitals, and there's not enough transport for them.
-
There's a problem with not having enough working security cameras in hospitals.
-
Patients and their visitors can go anywhere they want in the hospital.
-
There's no check for weapons at the hospital entrance.
-
Some parts of the hospital are too dark and not well-lit.
4. Appeal to doctors to return to work
The Court has asked the doctors, who are protesting against the crime, to go back to work. The Court mentioned that it is looking into matters concerning the doctors' safety, so the doctors should stop their protests and return to their day-to-day services.
The Supreme Court criticised Kolkata police for mishandling a mob attack at R G Kar Hospital. The court will order the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to provide security to the RG Kar Medical College Hospital and the hostel.
The Court said that if any doctor has any concern regarding safety, they can send an e-mail to the Registrar Judicial of the Supreme Court.
The Court also urged the West Bengal Govt to not take coercive actions against peaceful protesters.
5. Remove Name, Photos & Videos Of Deceased Doctor from Social Media
The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by lawyers, directed the immediate removal of all social media content, including any references to the name or pictures and videos taken of the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at the RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata.
The Court, taking note of the concerns raised, observed that the widespread circulation of the photographs and videos of the body of the deceased on social media spaces like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc, was in violation of the directions laid down by the Top Court in Nipun Saxena case.
Other Observations of the Supreme Court in Kolkata Doctor's Case:
Questioning the sequence and timing of legal formalities conducted by police, the Court said it was very surprising that the postmortem of the deceased was conducted on 9 August at 6.10 PM before the registration of the case as unnatural death.
The Court ordered the Kolkata Police officer who recorded the 1st report of a doctor's rape and murder to attend the next hearing and tell the time of the report.
Also read this judgement where recently SC Allows for Sub-Classification of SCs and STs.