The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the National Task Force (NTF), constituted to address the safety of medical professionals, to submit its response to various reports filed by states and stakeholders regarding gender-based violence prevention and safety protocols in hospitals.
The directive came during a hearing of the suo motu case initiated by the top court in response to the brutal rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last year. The tragic incident had sparked nationwide outrage and led to widespread protests across the medical community.
A bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh granted the NTF eight weeks to file its reply to the suggestions and measures proposed by different stakeholders.
The Supreme Court had established the NTF on August 20, 2024, to develop comprehensive protocols ensuring the safety and security of healthcare workers, particularly in government hospitals.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the bench also reviewed its earlier directions concerning the regularisation of unauthorised absences by doctors who had participated in protests following the incident. While some institutions complied with the Court’s August 22, 2024 directive and regularised the absence, others—including AIIMS Delhi—recorded the duration as sanctioned leave.
On August 22 last year, the Court made a heartfelt appeal to doctors protesting nationwide, urging them to return to work in the interest of public health, while assuring that no coercive steps would be taken once they resumed their duties. “Justice and medicine cannot be halted,” the bench had remarked at the time.
The gruesome crime had unfolded on August 9, 2024, when the doctor’s body was discovered in a seminar room of the Kolkata hospital. The next day, civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was arrested by police. On January 20 this year, a Kolkata trial court sentenced Roy to life imprisonment until death.
