Supreme Court defers hearing of petition seeking protection for Doctors

The Supreme Court today deferred the hearing in the petition seeking protection for Doctors in the government hospitals..The Court was of the view that while the larger question of protection for Doctors needs consideration, the matter is not urgent anymore given the fact that the strike by the Doctors in West Bengal, as well as other States, has now been called off..The Vacation Bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant thus directed that the petition be listed before an appropriate Bench after vacation..The questions relating to the kind of protection and who shall be responsible for providing the same will be considered by the Court..The PIL seeks a direction to the Central government to deploy uniformed security personnel at every government hospital to ensure the safety of doctors. Srivastava has also prayed for a direction to the government to formulate guidelines for the safety of doctors and for the same to be implemented in “letter and spirit”..Additionally, the petition also seeks a direction to the State of West Bengal to take stringent action against those who assaulted the junior doctor in NRS Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata..Doctors in the hospital had gone on strike after a Junior Doctor Paribaha Mukhopadhyay was severely injured after being attacked by a mob of people. The assault took place after the death of a 75- year old patient..West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had criticised the agitation and urged the doctors to resume work. This sparked protests in other Kolkata hospitals and eventually spread to other parts of the country..The matter had even reached the Calcutta High Court, which last week urged the State government to take measures to resolve the grievances raised by the striking doctors. The matter in the High Court is scheduled to be heard on June 21..Read the Order:.Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.