Reining in the chaos
Highlighting that safety of the doctors is of “highest concern”, the Supreme Court of India took suo motu cognisance of the Kolkata rape and murder case because it believes “this is not confined to one State but across the country.” Apart from timely justice for the victim’s family, the primary demand of the protesting doctors has been to establish a reliable framework for their safety. A three-judge bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra assured that their concerns are received by the apex court, and it will address the same to the extent it can. The top court’s decision to swiftly intervene in the matter is appreciable. While the long-term safety of doctors is a paramount concern in itself, the disruption of medical services across the country is also affecting the general masses. The Supreme Court has, thus, been to the point in taking initiative for doctors’ safety while urging them to return back with their services. The CJI acknowledged the “virtual absence of safety for doctors, especially for young women doctors”.
The root of the problem is not hard to guess. The apex court put it on record that “incidents of violence are a potent of the systemic failure to provide safeguards to doctors. Women medical professionals are especially vulnerable to sexual assaults…The safety of doctors who don the role of health providers is a matter of national concern.” It further added, “medical doctors with night duties are not provided adequate rest spaces. Basic needs of sanitation, hygiene, rest and nutrition are not provided to medical professionals. Lack of security in medical units is more of a normal than an exception”. The court has not just backed the demands raised by doctors, but also echoed the sense of urgency that underlines the doctors’ protest. Against this background, DY Chandrachud ordered the appointment of a National Task Force “to have a unified protocol for the safety of doctors, and medical professionals.”
The court questioned the role of the state police in the aftermath of the crime and during the vandalism in the night preceding August 15. Appearing for the Association of Doctors in West Bengal, a counsel provided sealed copies of an email by a senior resident doctor in the hostel to the judges. The copies, which left the judges in shock, complained that the police ‘fled’ in the wake of vandalism and hid in the bathrooms. As per the counsel, after that, hooligans came to the resident doctors and threatened them with fateful consequences. To an interruption by Kapil Sibal that a 150-strength police force was confronted by a mob of 7,000, the CJI pointed out that while the crowd was large, vandalism was perpetrated by a mere 80-90 miscreants. The revelations made by the counsel are indeed very serious in nature, nudging the bench to order deployment of CISF at RG Kar Medical College.
In solidarity with the protestors, the bench said: “let the power of the State of West Bengal not be unleashed on peaceful protestors”. Meanwhile, it has also asked for a status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation. Apart from emphasising on safety of doctors and fair investigation, the Supreme Court referred to Nipun Saxena v. Union of India (2018) to highlight the limits on circulation of sensitive information regarding the victim. The court noted that “the name, photographs, video clips after post mortem showing her body have been published all over the media”. In sum total, the Supreme Court has made an essential intervention to ensure justice for the victim’s family and safety of resident doctors across the country, as well as to control the multi-front chaos simmering after the brutal crime.
