HC Allows Formation Of Committee To Redress Grievances Of Protesting Doctors In Jaipur, Says Professionals Like Doctors & Lawyers Cannot Go On Strike

Rajasthan High Court has affirmed the suggestion given by the Secretary, Medical Education, on behalf of the State of Rajasthan to formulate an internal committee to address the grievances of around 7000 resident doctors (Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors- JARD) being on strike since October 19, 2024, impacting the medical services in the state.

The bench of Justice Sameer Jain was hearing an oral petition filed by a counsel (petitioner) highlighting the dismaying situation being faced by the general public of the state in light of the ongoing strike, as covered by various newspapers.

It was the case of the petitioner that a number of operations and regular consultations were being affected which not only constituted violation of individuals' rights under Article 14 and 21 but also hindered the state's compliance with Directive Principle of the state policy.

The Petitioner argued that despite forming part of such a noble profession, JARD's act of going on strike was against medical ethics.

“The professionals like doctors and lawyers also have no right to go on strike. Their responsibilities are manifold. There is no legal /statutory right to go on strike. There is no equitable justification to go on strike.”

The petitioner also highlighted Section 125, BNS, which provides that any act that endangered the life or personal liberty of others, should be punished with imprisonment.

In light of these submissions, the Court opined that it was the moral, social, and professional duty of the doctors to not make any innocent suffer and thus, it expected that doctors and lawyers should not resort to strike and the same was also provided in the Code of Ethics for Doctors prescribed in the Indian Medical Counsel )Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.

Furthermore, exercising its inherent jurisdiction under Section 528, BNSS, the Court allowed the oral petition and directed its registration as a criminal petition.

While communicating doctors' willingness to terminate the strike, the representatives of JARD submitted that the grievances faced by the doctors were time and again raised before the authorities who paid no attention to the same, hence, forcing them to resort to strike. The grievances were mostly about the safety and protection of doctors especially the females, and the allowance and miniscule stipend for the resident doctors, and some other policy issues.

On behalf of the State of Rajasthan, it was put forth that the grievances of the resident doctors were acknowledged by the medical authorities and to be able to address the same, it was suggested to formulate an internal committee which would take note of the grievances and after considering resources and infrastructure requisites, make every endeavor to settle the dispute.

After hearing the submissions from both the parties, the Court urged the doctors to call-off the strike and rejoin their duties which was duly accepted by JARD. Furthermore, the Court also affirmed the suggestion of forming the committee to address the grievance of doctors and suggested members for the same with Secretary, Medical Education as the Chairman of the committee.

The Court observed that it expected the committee to culminate the discussions within a span of 21 days from its first meeting which was scheduled on October 26, 2024 and the minutes of the meetings to be furnished before the Court on the next date i.e. November 21, 2024.

Title: Parth Sharma v State of Rajasthan

For Petitioner(s): Mr. Suresh Kumar Sahini, Amicus Curaie; Mr. S.S. Hora, Amicus Curaie; Mr. Kapil Gupta, Amicus Curaie; Mr. Ajay Shukla, Court Commissioner; Mr. Shobit Tiwari, Court Commissioner

For Respondent(s): Mr. G.S. Gill, AAG; Mr. Vigyan Shah, AAG with Mr. Yash Joshi; Mr. Archit Bohra, AGC; Mr. Pulkit Bhardwaj, Addl. G.C.; Mr. Rajesh Choudhary, GA-Cum-AAG with Mr. Manvendra Singh Shekhawat with Mr. Rishi Raj Singh Rathore, PP; Ms. Gayatri Rathore, Principal Secretary; Mr. Iqbal Khan, Commissioner, Medical Education; Mr. Amrish Kumar, Secretary Medical Education along with other officers; Dr. Manohar Siyal, Dr. Saket Dhadhich (for JARD); Mr. Sudir Upadhyay, SHO, SMS Hospital

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