Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 17: The Supreme Court on Tuesday flagged the revelations in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) status report in the Kolkata rape and murder case as “disturbing,” even as the West Bengal government removed the Kolkata police commissioner as well as the state’s directors of medical education and health service as fulfilling some of the key promises made to the protesting doctors by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee at their crucial meeting on Monday night.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud while hearing the suo motu case concerning the rape and murder of a postgraduate doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, also directed Wikipedia to remove information disclosing the victim’s identity.
Additionally, the bench which also comprised by Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra underscored that the West Bengal government could not restrict women doctors from working night shifts or exceeding 12-hour shifts as part of the proposed reforms and advised it to strengthen security while providing women with equal opportunities, “Women do not want concessions, only equal opportunities”, the Chief Justice said.
On Monday evening, Ms Banerjee conceded most of the demands of the protesting junior doctors and had announced that Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal, the Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police, North, and two senior officials of Health Department would be replaced.
The protesting junior doctors hailed the decision as a major victory and landmark in their 38-day long protests demanding justice for their 31-year-old deceased colleague but refused to call off the strike on Tuesday stating that they want the assurances to be acted upon and would resume services only after consulting with protesting doctors of other hospitals. The development comes after a meeting between the Chief Minister and a delegation of about 40 doctors at her residence.
Mr Goyal has been replaced by Manoj Kumar Verma, a 1998-batch officer, who held the post of Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) to which he was appointed in January this year. Mr Verma had taken over from Jawed Shamim, who was seen as one of the frontrunners for the Kolkata Police Commissioner’s post. Mr Shamim will now be replacing Mr Verma.
“What the CBI has revealed in the report is really disturbing. What you are flagging is of utmost concern,” the SC said in the rape and murder of the R.G. Kar Medical College trainee doctor in Kolkata but refused to divulge the details, saying any disclosure may jeopardise the ongoing investigation.
The SC further said the agency was not “sleeping over” the investigation and it needed to be given time to “unearth the truth.” “We ourselves are concerned, CBI has flagged it for us. We are ourselves disturbed by what we have read,” the top court told a lawyer who claimed discrepancies in the seizure list and sketch of the crime scene.
West Bengal Assembly leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari asserted that the “anti-woman” nature of the state government “stands exposed” after its recent circular that allowed woman doctors to avoid night duty and capping their working hours to 12 hours at a time. His comments came shortly after the SC took objection to the West Bengal government’s ‘Rattirer Saathi’ programme, while hearing the rape-murder case of the R.G. Kar Medical College woman doctor in Kolkata. The State Government told the bench that it would withdraw the notification for women doctors after the top court’s objection.
The state government removed Dr Kaustav Nayak and Dr Debasish Halder from the position of Director of Medical Education (DME) and the Director of Health Services (DHS) respectively, a health department order said. Dr Swapan Soren was appointed the new in-charge Director of Health Services (DHS) and Dr Suparna Dutta officer on special duty of Medical Education (DME), it added.
The Supreme Court also junked a plea seeking the resignation of Ms Banerjee in the wake of the protest after the rape and murder of the medic. The bench reprimanded the lawyer for his plea and said it did not have a remit to pass such an order.
“This is not a political forum alright. You are a member of the bar. We do not require your affirmation of what we say. What you say has to abide by the rules of legal discipline. We are not here to see what you feel about a political functionary. We are dealing with the specific grievances of the doctors. If you ask me to direct that CM should resign that’s not part of our remit,” the Bench said.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising said it was their (doctors) belief, rightly or wrongly, that people who are involved, possibly in the cover-up of the case, are still there. “Protesting believe they will have to face some kind of victimisation if they rejoin work,” she added. Mr Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, interjected to point out that the Chief Minister had given an assurance that there would not be any punitive action against them.
The Supreme Court recorded in an order that the West Bengal government was undertaking the construction of additional duty rooms and toilets, as well as the installation of CCTV cameras. The Court directed that representatives from both senior and junior doctors should be included in teams led by district collectors and superintendents of police in each district. They will be consulted concerning the development of infrastructure in public hospitals and medical colleges.
The Court further noted from the status report filed by the WB government that 910 additional women police personnel are undergoing training for deployment at government hospitals and medical colleges across West Bengal.
