Kolkata doctor rape case: TMC hails SC order urging West Bengal doctors to resume work, says ’lives are at stake’

Trinamool Congress on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's order directing the protesting doctors in West Bengal to return to work by 5 pm on Tuesday, assuring no adverse action if they comply. The protests follow the alleged gruesome rape and brutal murder of a postgraduate woman doctor at government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, which has disrupted healthcare services in the state.

Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), the TMC said people's lives are at stake, and no cry for help should go unanswered!

“We welcome the Supreme Court's timely intervention, urging doctors to resume work by 5 PM tomorrow. The Chief Justice of India's remarks echoed what Shri @abhishekaitc emphasised: protests, while valid, must not come at the cost of duty. People's lives are at stake, and no cry for help should go unanswered!”

Earlier in the day, while hearing the Suo Moto case in the Kolkata doctor rape-murder case, the apex court observed that “Protest cannot be at the cost of duty” anddirected the West Bengal doctors to to get back to work by 5 pm on Tuesday and assured them that there will be no adverse action if they resume duty.

The apex court said, "The state of West Bengal must take steps to create confidence in the minds of the doctors that their concerns regarding their safety and security are being duly attended to. In order to ensure this, all the district collectors and SPs (superintendents of police) shall take stock of the situation in all government medical colleges and public hospitals and provide adequate safety.

"We also direct that in the event the doctors return to duty on or before 5 pm (on Tuesday), no adverse disciplinary action should be taken against them. If there is continued abstention of work, there may be a likelihood of adverse action," the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

"Any protest cannot be at the cost of duty. The young doctors must now return and attend to the patients. We know what is happening on the ground. First, return to work. The district collectors and superintendents of police will ensure (your) safety. You have to now return to work," the bench said.