[Kolkata Rape and Murder case] Supreme Court directs Ministry of Health to open portal for stakeholders to submit suggestions before Task Force committee

In the earlier order, the Supreme Court directed CBI to file a status report on the progress in the investigation of the crime at RG Kar Medical College Hospital on 22-08-2024. The State of West Bengal was also directed to file a status report by 22-08-2024 on the progress of the investigation on the acts of vandalism which took place at the Hospital in the aftermath of the incident.

Kolkata Rape and Murder case

Supreme Court: In the suo motu matter concerning the rape and murder of a doctor at the RG Kar Medical College Hospital at Kolkata, the Three Judge Bench of Dr. DY Chandrachud, CJI, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, JJ. directed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to open a portal where stakeholders can submit their suggestions before the committee.

The Court took on record the status report submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (‘CBI’), and the status report and an affidavit submitted by the State of West Bengal.

The Court noted that a request for conducting the polygraph test of the accused has been submitted to the ACJM, Sealdah, which is stated “to be under process”. The Court directed the ACJM to pass orders on the application no later than by 5 pm on 23-08-2024.

The Court said that while constituting the National Task Force (‘NTF’), it had specifically clarified that the NTF should engage with diverse stakeholders. Consequently, the Court directed the NTF to hear representatives of diverse stakeholders to enable it to have inputs from all those who are concerned with the process which has been initiated by this Court for maintaining safety and wellbeing of the doctors and other medical professionals at their workplaces.

The Court also noted some additional suggestions to be taken into account by the NTF, including:

(i) Institutionalization of distress call systems;

(ii) Regulation of duty hours; and

(iii) Constitution of a compensation distress fund.

The Court emphasized that the views of diverse stakeholders including the Interns, Residents, Senior Residents, doctors and nurses as well as of the para-medical staff would be taken into account by the NTF before its recommendations are made.

The Court also reaffirmed that peaceful protests should not be disturbed or disrupted and directed the State to not take any precipitate action against those peacefully protesting the incident at RG Kar Medical College Hospital. The Court also appealed to doctors to return to their work.

The Court noted that the Central Industrial Security Force has been deployed at RG Kar Medical College Hospital to ensure the safety of doctors, nurses and all other medical professionals.

The Court also directed the Secretary of the Health Ministry to engage with the Chief Secretaries of the State and Director General of Police to ensure the safety of the doctors willing to return to work. The Court directed that the meeting be held within a week and States should take remedial measures within two weeks.

Pending the submission of the report of the NTF, the Court directed all State Governments and Union Territories to be on alert to any apprehended violations or breaches of safety in medical establishments. The Court also directed the States/Union Territories to take suitable measures such as installing CCTV cameras and call distress systems, without awaiting the report of the NTF.

The matter will next be taken up on 05-09-2024.

Also Read:

[Kolkata Rape and Murder case] Supreme Court orders constitution of National Task Force to give recommendations on modalities ensuring safety at workplace

CASE DETAILS

Citation:
2024 SCC OnLine SC 2245

In re: Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in R.G. KAR medical college and hospital, Kolkata and related issues

Advocates who appeared in this case

For Petitioner(s):
By Courts Motion

For Respondent(s):
Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Adv. Mr. Arkaj Kumar, Adv. Mr. Madhav Sinhal, Adv. Mr. M.K. Maroria, Adv. Mr. Phiroze Edulje, Adv. Mr. Anjan Datta, Adv. Mr. Vishal Arun Mishra, AOR Ms. Ishita Srivastva, Adv. Mr. Litan Maitra, Adv. Ms. Rupali Panwar, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Sharma, Adv. Ms. Sumon Pathak, Adv. Mr. V.K. Pushpakumar, Adv. Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Mihir Desai, Sr. Adv. Ms. Jhuma Sen, Adv. Mr. Anirudh Sanganeria, AOR Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sanjay Basu, Adv. Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Nipun Saxena, Adv. Ms. Anju Thomas, Adv. Ms. Aparajita Jamwal, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Kaushik, Adv. Ms. Mantika Haryani, Adv. Mr. Shreyas Awasthi, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh Pratap, Adv. Ms. Pratibha Yadav, Adv. Ms. Ripul Swati Kumari, Adv. Mr. Bhanu Mishra, Adv. Ms. Lihzu Shiney Konyak, Adv. Mr. Lavkesh Bhambhani, Adv. Ms. Arunima Das, Adv. Mr. Devadipta Das, Adv. Mr. Archit Adlakha, Adv. Mr. Aditya Raj Pandey, Adv. Ms. Mehreen Garg, Adv. Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv. Mr. Raghenth Basant, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ravi Raghunath, Adv. Ms. Kaushitaki Sharma, Adv. Ms. Aparajita Singh, Sr. Adv. Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, Adv. Ms. Pragya Barsaiyan, Adv. Ms. Anandita Rana, Adv. Ms. Vanshita Gupta, Adv. Mr. Madhav Aggarwal, Adv. Ms. Sayantani Basak, Adv. Ms. Geeta Luthra, Sr. Adv. Ms. Shivani Luthra Lohia, Adv. Mr. Nitin S., Adv. Mr. Anirban Chanda, Adv. Mr. Aadarsh Kothari, Adv. Ms. Arpita Sahu, Adv. Mr. Shashank Shekhar Jha, Adv. Ms. Priyanka Thakur, Adv. Mr. Vijay Hansaria, Sr. Adv. Ms. Sneha Kalita, Adv. Ms. Kavya Jhawar, Adv. Ms. Nandini Rai, Adv. Mr. Sanjay Hegde, Sr. Adv. Mr. Amanakuttan K.K., Adv. Ms. Rambha Singh, Adv. Mr. Akhilesh Kr. Mishra, Adv. Ms. Karuna Nandy, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sabyasachi Chatterjee, Adv. Mr. Gajendra Negi, Adv. Mr. Subhro Prokas Mukherjee, Adv. Ms. Rishika Rishabh, Adv. Mr. Svarit Vniyal Mishra, Adv. Ms. Kumud Lata Das, Adv. Ms. Pooja Rathore, Adv. Ms. Annwesha Deb, Adv. Mr. Harsh Ajay Singh, Adv. Ms. Shashi Kiran, Sr. Adv. Ms. Sadhana Sandhu, Adv. Ms. Sangeeta Bhalla, Adv. Mr. Pankaj Rishikrishnan, Adv. Mr. Rohit Pandey, Adv. Mr. Ujjwal Gaur, Adv. Ms. Manisha, Adv. Dr. Satish Chandra, Adv. Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Prabhas Bajaj, Adv. Mr. Rithvik Mathur, Adv. Mr. Priyanshu Tyagi, Adv. Mr. Devadatt Kamath, Sr. Adv. Mr. Satayam Singh, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Gupta, Adv. Mr. Kushal Kumar, Adv. Mr. Bhanu Kapoor, Adv. Ms. Mudrika Tomar, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Shivam Singh, Adv. Mr. Akshay Singh, Adv. Ms. Sneha Rani, Adv. Sheetal Rajput, Adv. Mr. Rahul Kumar Jai, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Sr. Adv. Mr. Shoumendra Mukherjee, Adv. Ms. Megha Sharma, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Gupta, Adv. Mr. Ajay Awasthi, Adv. Ms. Mugdha Pande, Adv. Mr. Vaibhav Thaledi, Adv. Mr. Danish Iqbal, Adv. Mr. Shrey Singh, Adv. Mr. Firdous Samim, Adv. Ms. Gopa Biswas, Adv. Mr. Ali Asghar Rahim, Adv. Ms. Bansuri Swaraj, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddhesh Shirish Kotwal, Adv. Mr. Billwadal Bhattacharyya, Adv. Mr. Bikram Banerjee, Adv. Ms. Ana Upadhyay, Adv. Ms. Manya Hasija, Adv. Mr. Tejasvi Gupta, Adv. Mr. Pawan Upadhyay, Adv. Mr. T. Illayarasu, Adv. Ms. Tanvi Dubey, Adv. Mr. Raghav Sabharwal, Adv.

CORAM :

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