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The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear as the first matter on Tuesday a suo motu case related to the rape and murder of a postgraduate medic at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata amid the ongoing nationwide doctors' strike over it.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, which had taken cognisance of the incident, has kept the matter on top of the cause list for hearing at 10:30 am on Tuesday.
The suo motu cognisance of the case, titled "In Re: Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, and related issue", assumes significance in view of the fact that Calcutta High Court is already in action and has transferred the probe into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The top court may widen the spectrum of judicial scrutiny, keeping in mind the ongoing nationwide protests, especially by the doctors, and their concerns.
Doctors' bodies the Federation of Association of Medical Consultants of India and the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association, and lawyer Vishal Tiwari have also moved the top court by filing interim applications in the suo motu case.
The FAMCI, in its plea, raised safety concerns for medical workers in hospitals across the country in the absence of any central law and said that despite years of demanding basic safety measures, medical workers continued to operate in risky environments.
The doctors' body said the Centre should be asked to formulate uniform guidelines to ensure protection for healthcare workers and address gaps in state-level laws.
"Resident doctors in medical colleges (public and private) and doctors in government hospitals should be formally declared as 'public servants'," it said. "A police outpost should be mandatorily established within the premises of municipal hospitals."
Likewise, the FORDA, in its intervention application filed through advocates Satyam Singh and Sanjeev Gupta, said medics dedicated 10 to 11 years of rigorous education and training, including medical school and residency, to save lives and serve society.
"The healthcare workers play an indispensable role in society, often working under challenging conditions to provide care and save lives. Ensuring their safety is paramount. We urge the judiciary to mandate comprehensive security protocols at RG Kar Medical College and other similar institutions, to protect them from any form of threat or violence," the FORDA said.
It said the attack on medics violated several fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution such as the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, right to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business under Article 19(1)(g) and the right to equality before law under Article 14.
"Issue guidelines to plan, prevent, protect and address the aftermath of sexual violence, harassment and gender discrimination against healthcare workers. Direct the deployment of central forces to protect RG Kar Medical College and its staff till the pendency of the case, given the failure of local law enforcement to prevent the attack and subsequent vandalism of the crime scene," it said.
It also sought framing of guidelines for enhancing security measures at medical colleges and hospitals across the country to prevent such incidents in the future.
Lawyer Vishal Tiwari, in his plea, highlighted recent rape and murder cases in various states and said, "In our application we have said that in such cases the probe must be conducted through a judicial probe."
The doctors' strike over the rape and murder of the medic completed a week on Sunday and is now entering its second week, causing difficulties for patients.
The protesting doctors want the CBI to catch the culprits and for the court to impose the maximum punishment on them. They also want an assurance from the government that "no such incidents occur in the future".
According to the cause list for August 20 uploaded on the apex court website, the bench will comprise Chief Justice Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra.
The alleged rape and murder of the junior doctor in a seminar hall of the state-run hospital has sparked nationwide protests.
The medic's body with severe injury marks was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital's chest department on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the case the following day.
On August 13, Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the probe from the Kolkata Police to the CBI, which started its investigation on August 14.
The high court ordered the transfer of the probe to the CBI while hearing petitions, including one moved by the victim's parents praying for a court-monitored probe.
Observing that the mob violence at the hospital was an absolute failure of the state machinery, the high court on August 16 directed the police and the hospital authorities to file affidavits on the situation there.
The high court had said it was hard to believe that the police intelligence did not have information about the gathering of 7,000 people, when the state's lawyer told the court that a mob of such a number had assembled at the hospital in the early hours of Thursday.