The Supreme Court has set up a national task force to ensure the safety of medical professionals. A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, while hearing the case regarding the rape and murder of a doctor at a Kolkata hospital, directed the task force to submit its interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months. The CJI said that the Court is creating a National Task Force comprising doctors from across the country to provide recommendations on the modalities to be followed nationwide to ensure the safety of women. The task force will comprise Surgeon Vice Admiral R. Sarin, Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy, Dr. M. Shreenivas, Dr. Pratima Murty, Dr. Goverdhan Dutt Puri, Dr. Saumitra Rawat, Prof. Anita Saxena (Head of Cardiology, AIIMS Delhi), Prof. Pallavi Sapre (Dean, Grant Medical College Mumbai), and Dr. Padma Srivastava (Neurology Department, AIIMS).
Expressing deep concern over the unsafe working environment of doctors and medical professionals across the country, the Court said that existing laws do not adequately address the institutional safety of doctors. The Court said it has initiated the case on its own regarding the rape and murder of a doctor at the RG Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata to address systemic issues, emphasizing that the nation cannot wait for another rape and murder for things to change on the ground.
The bench also noted that several states, such as Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, etc., have framed state laws to deal with violence against doctors. However, these laws do not address deficiencies in institutional safety standards.
