The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the West Bengal government for the alleged slow pace of safety work at all the hospitals in the state. The apex court while hearing a suo motu case related to the rape and murder of a doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, questioned the state government over the process of recruitment of civic police volunteers, reported Bar & Bench.
The top court bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud sought data from the West Bengal government regarding the recruitment of such civic volunteers, who assist the cops in day-to-day duties, taking note of the fact that the key accused in the RG Kar rape-murder case was a civic police volunteer.
The court asked the Bengal government, “Who recruits these civic volunteers? We need to know what are these qualifications. We need to know that such volunteers do not operate in hospitals, schools which are sensitive in nature.”
The court said that civic volunteers have unrestricted access to sensitive areas due to their active duty. The CJI remarked that allowing unverified recruitment of civic volunteers could lead to conferring power through political bias.
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The apex court said, “This is a nice way to confer political patronage on selected individuals. Let the State of West Bengal first give us the data.”
{{/usCountry}}The apex court said, “This is a nice way to confer political patronage on selected individuals. Let the State of West Bengal first give us the data.”
{{/usCountry}}The court also expressed concern regarding the slow pace at which security measures were being implemented across medical facilities and colleges across the state, and questioned the West Bengal government in this regard.
Further, the apex court expressed its dissatisfaction with the National Task Force (NTF), which was constituted by the bench to make recommendations to enhance safety for medical workers. The court noted that the NTF has not made any progress, and flagged that the last meeting held by the members was in the first week of September.
The court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta why no meeting was held after September 9, and directed that the NTF should complete its assigned tasks within three weeks.
“Presently, it appears that neither the National Task Force nor the sub-groups have made any substantial progress pursuant to the remit set in the orders of this Court. The SG has accepted that no meeting appears to have been held since the first week of September 2024. We are of the view that the Union Government must take proactive efforts to ensure that the task of the Task Force is completed within a reasonable period in the future,” the court said in its order, reported Live Law.