The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the medical colleges not to treat as absent, medicos protesting against the rape and murder of a resident doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and resuming duty after August 22, 2024 and rather, consider them as on duty.
Clarifying it’s previous order dated August 22, 2024, the Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar recorded in it’s order that the agitating doctors who joined duty after August 22 would be regularised and not treated as absent from duty.
The direction was issued in peculiar facts and circumstances and should not be read as laying down a precedent, it added.
On August 22 last year, the Bench led by then CJI DY Chandrachud, held that no coercive action would be taken against doctors resuming duty following the protests, after the pronouncement of this order.
The Apex Court is hearing the suo motu case regarding the brutal rape and murder of a resident doctor in RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, which shook the nation on August 9, 2024.
Appearing for the AIIMS Resident Doctors Association, Senior Advocate Raghenth Basant apprised the Bench that some of the medical institutions such as Post Graduate Institution, Chandigarh; AIIMS Kalyani and AIIMS Gorakhpur have regularised the period for which the doctors were protesting, however, some other medical institutions were treating the protesting period as ‘on leave,’ which may affect the future of the doctors preparing for Post Graduation.
This was contrary to the order dated August 22, 2024. Many PG students would lose their cut-off for further studies, he added.
Appearing for the Union of India, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that several medical institutions such as Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, were treating the period of absence/protest of doctors as ‘on leave’.
The Apex Court then clarified that the period of absence by the doctors on strike would be considered as ‘regularised’ and not on leave.
The intent behind the August, 2024 verdict was that the aforesaid period would be regularised and no coercive steps would be taken against the agitating doctors, it added.
The body of a 31-year-old resident doctor was recovered from a seminar hall of the State-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on the morning of August 9, 2024. Autopsy confirmed that she was raped and murdered.
The incident sparked nationwide outrage and protests with doctors in various parts of the country going on strike demanding stricter laws and policing to ensure the safety of medical professionals.
Kolkata Police arrested Roy, a civic volunteer with the city police on August 10, 2024.
On August 13, 2024, 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.
In October last year, CBI filed a charge sheet against prime accused Roy.
The trial court in West Bengal framed criminal charges for rape and murder against Roy. The trial started on November 12, 2024 and concluded on January 9, 2025. CBI sought death penalty for Roy. On January 20, Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das sentenced Roy to life imprisonment.
On August 19, 2024, the Supreme Court had taken a suo motu case over the incident, to examine larger concerns of workplace safety for medical professionals, apart from concerns about the probe and trial in the RG Kar case.