The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked why a murder case was not registered at the outset and an unnatural death case was initiated into the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here.
Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam put forth the question to the West Bengal government lawyer when he claimed that an unnatural death case was registered, as there is no immediate complaint of murder.
The division bench presided by the Chief Justice said the body of the postgraduate trainee was not found on the roadside, and the superintendent or the principal of the hospital could have filed the complaint.
The Chief Justice also said the murder was so gruesome that the doctors and interns were justified in venting their anguish.
The parents of the postgraduate trainee had moved the HC, seeking a court-monitored investigation in the case.
A number of other PILs were also filed that sought a CBI probe into it.
Hearing the petitions, the division bench also observed that "something is missing" in the probe, and asked whether the then principal of the medical college, Sandip Ghosh’s statement was recorded, to which the state lawyer answered in the negative.
Moreover, apart from Kolkata, Delhi, Chandigarh and other places, protests surrounding the matter were started by junior doctors at state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on Tuesday. They have boycotted OPD services and elective surgeries.
Medical services at government facilities here, including the largest state-run Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur, too, were affected from today as resident doctors went on a strike.
However, emergency services are not impacted, they said.
On Monday evening, the Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors (JARD) announced immediate suspension of non-essential services.
Resident doctors in Maharashtra started an indefinite strike from August 13 in support of the nationwide protests.
All elective services in hospitals across the state have been halted, but emergency services will continue uninterrupted, Maharashtra State Association of Residential Doctors (Central-MARD) president Dr Pratik Debaje told the media.
Resident doctors from various government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, too, have launched an indefinite strike.
Although the doctor’s union in UP had clarified that essential services would remain open, long queues outside the Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) suggested otherwise.
In Kolkata, too, long queues of patients were seen at out-patient departments (OPDs) of all government hospitals since early Tuesday morning as senior doctors were substituting their junior counterparts to address the rush.
The agitating junior doctors, who have been pressing for magisterial probe into the killing of the woman doctor, on Tuesday set a deadline of August 14 for the Kolkata Police to complete their investigation.
Doctors across the nation has united in demand for justice for the alleged rape and murder of a woman postgraduate trainee inside a seminar hall of the RG Kar hospital. Her body was found on Friday morning. A civic volunteer was arrested in this connection on Saturday.
Although West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe into the matter, the administration’s stand on the issue remains questionable.
Hours after Dr Sandip Ghosh stepped down as the principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Monday following widespread protests, the West Bengal Government appointed him as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMCH).
This triggered further outrage.
An orthopedic professor, Ghosh was appointed the principal of RG Kar in mid-2021 after being promoted from his previous position at CNMCH.
In the past, faculty members at RG Kar Hospital leveled serious allegations against Ghosh, including misappropriation of funds and irregularities in procurement processes.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had been questioning Ghosh’s continued presence at the helm of the medical college.
“It is common knowledge that Ghosh was removed twice from the coveted RG Kar Medical College’s principal’s chair by the Health Department. But he mysteriously remained in the position. Such is his influence that once a government order for his removal was cancelled within 48 hours, and another time after he was removed and transferred to the Murshidabad Medical College but found his way back to RG Kar within a month,” Adhikari had posted X following the rape and murder of the doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Demand from the doctors also include bringing Ghosh under the purview of investigation.
Follow us
