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After students, WB govt doctors leading RG Kar hospital agitation face charges

Feb 05, 2025 02:35 PM IST

Manas Chakraborty, who served as the council’s registrar until January 31, filed a complaint at Salt Lake’s Electronics Complex police station in the last week of January

Kolkata: The state medical council has accused four West Bengal government doctors, who are at the forefront of the agitation following the August 9, 2024, rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, of disrupting its operations, the police said.

The state medical council has accused four West Bengal government doctors — Manas Gumta, Subarna Goswami, Utpal Banerjee, and Ranjan Bhattacharya — of disrupting its operations (Hindustan Times)
The state medical council has accused four West Bengal government doctors — Manas Gumta, Subarna Goswami, Utpal Banerjee, and Ranjan Bhattacharya — of disrupting its operations (Hindustan Times)

Manas Chakraborty, who served as the council’s registrar until January 31, filed a complaint at Salt Lake’s Electronics Complex police station in the last week of January, said a police officer, adding that no action has been taken on it so far.

The four doctors—Manas Gumta, Subarna Goswami, Utpal Banerjee, and Ranjan Bhattacharya—hold senior positions at various state hospitals.

Gumta, the most senior among the four, told HT that the police had neither filed a first information report (FIR) nor contacted any of the four doctors until Tuesday. “Even the council has not contacted us. The allegation is baseless and defamatory in nature,” he said.

The West Bengal medical council is an autonomous body established under the Bengal Medical Act 1914. Its functions include granting registration to practitioners with qualifications recognised by the national medical commission and investigating complaints of medical negligence and ethical breaches.

The health department is led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Chakraborty’s complaint comes days after the council and state police initiated separate probes against two RG Kar Hospital junior doctors, Kinjal Nanda and Asfaqullah Naiya, who were prominent figures in the agitation.

Meanwhile, Chakraborty stepped down from the position of registrar on January 31 following orders from the division bench of Calcutta High Court chief justice T.S. Sivagnanam and justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, passed on January 30. The court ruled that Chakraborty’s post-retirement appointment at the council had not been sanctioned by the government.

The order was issued during a hearing of a petition filed by two doctors, Aniruddha Chatterjee and Gargi Goswami, challenging the validity of Chakraborty’s tenure as the council’s registrar since November 1, 2019.

In November of the previous year, several senior doctor organisations raised allegations of corruption in the health department and demanded the reconstitution of the council and the removal of the registrar, who signs the certificates that allow doctors to practice.

During the high court hearing, the government informed the court that Chakraborty’s appointment as registrar had not been sanctioned.

“The government has stated that the appointment of the 5th respondent (Chakraborty) as registrar on re-employment since 1.11.2019 has been made without prior sanction of the government and, therefore, the 5th respondent has no right to continue to function as registrar of the medical council,” the court’s order, a copy of which was seen by HT, stated.

“Therefore, as observed earlier, he shall step down on his own volition by 5 pm tomorrow i.e. 31.1.2025, or else there will be an order directing his removal from the post of registrar,” the order added.

Chakraborty did not comment on his removal until Tuesday.

The council came under scrutiny last year when Sudipta Ray, a Trinamool Congress legislator and its current president, was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the August 9 rape and murder case. Following this, the joint platform of doctors, West Bengal—the umbrella body of various organisations—wrote to the state’s chief secretary, Manoj Pant, claiming the council had lost its credibility.

In response to the allegations against doctors who led the agitation, Punyabrata Gun, one of the conveners of the joint platform of doctors, claimed that Supreme Court orders were being violated.

The Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe on August 13 amid nationwide protests by doctors and citizens. The chief justice of India’s bench took over the hearing on September 20 through a suo moto petition.

“During its second hearing, the Supreme Court said no action should be taken against the agitators. But the doctors are now being selectively targeted,” said Gun.

HT reported on January 27 that the council had asked RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to clarify whether Kinjal Nanda, one of its trainee doctors, had been skipping classes and duty. This followed a state police probe into Asfaqullah Naiya, another trainee doctor from the same hospital, over an allegation that he had been incorrectly identified as an MD (Doctor of Medicine) in a pamphlet released by organisers of a free health camp in Hooghly district last year. Both doctors denied the allegations.

West Bengal health secretary NS Nigam could not be reached for comment.

Trinamool congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said: “An inquiry is a government affair. The party has nothing to say on this.”

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