SC declines urgent hearing on PIL for doctors’ security

A bench of justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant said it will not issue notice to the Centre but is keeping the larger issue on doctors’ safety open.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the hearing on a plea seeking protection of doctors in government hospitals, saying there is no urgency to hear the matter since doctors have called off their strike in West Bengal and other states.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the hearing on a plea seeking protection of doctors in government hospitals, saying there is no urgency to hear the matter since doctors have called off their strike in West Bengal and other states. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

A bench of justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant said it will not issue notice to the Centre but is keeping the larger issue on doctors’ safety open.

“We agreed to hear the plea today as there was a strike by doctors and medical fraternity in West Bengal and other states. The strike has been called off and there appears no urgency to hear the petition. List (the matter) before an appropriate bench,” it said.

On Tuesday, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) filed an impleadment application seeking the court’s intervention into the plea already filed. It said that doctors across the country need to be protected.

The bench said it needs to take a holistic view in providing security to doctors.

“We can’t protect doctors at the cost of other citizens. We have to look at the larger picture. We are not against the protection given to doctors,” the bench added.

Doctors in Bengal had been on strike since June 11, a day after two of their colleagues were assaulted by relatives of a patient who died last week. They called off their protest on Monday night after chief minister Mamata Banerjee assured them that steps will be taken by her government to scale up security at government hospitals in the state.