The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed hospitals, including Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), to regularise the “unauthorised” absence of doctors who took part in the protest against the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year.
According to a PTI report, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar took note of the submissions by a doctors' body that some hospitals had regularised the absence of the doctors following its August 22, 2024 order but a few others, including AIIMS Delhi, decided to treat the period as leave of absence.
"We deem it appropriate to clarify that if protesting workers had joined work post the Supreme Court order then their absence shall be regularised and not be treated as absence from duty. This is issued in peculiar facts and circumstances of the cases and is not laying down any precedent,” the CJI was quoted by PTI as saying.
The lawyer appearing for the doctors' body said the decision to treat protest period as leave “may create trouble for some of the medical post-graduate students”.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said as the case was non-adversarial, the hospitals would abide by the top court's directions.
{{/usCountry}}Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said as the case was non-adversarial, the hospitals would abide by the top court's directions.
{{/usCountry}}Mehta said AIIMS, Delhi, decided to treat the period as leave of absence availed by the doctors.
“By an earlier order, it was stated that no coercive step would be taken against the protesting doctors for protests till the date of the order. Pursuant to this some of the AIIMS such as Kalyani and Gorakhpur and the PGI Chandigarh have regularised the absence. However some other institutes have treated the said period as if doctors were on leave," the bench stated.
RG Kar murder case verdict
On January 20, the Sealdah sessions court sentenced Sanjay Roy, the sole convict in the rape and murder crime of an on-duty trainee doctor at RG Kar hospital on August 9 last year, to rigorous life imprisonment till the end of his natural life.
The doctor's rape and murder last year had triggered massive nationwide outrage and prolonged protests in West Bengal. The doctors' strike hit medical services in various parts of the country.
(With PTI inputs)