SC Adjourns Hearing Of PIL For Protection Of Doctors

The doctors' strike having abated, the Supreme Court on Tuesday did not deem necessary to pass any immediate orders on a plea seeking safety and security of doctors in government hospitals across the country.

Posting the matter to now be heard in July, the vacation bench headed by Justice Deepak Gupta, however, acknowledged the gravity of instances of attacks on doctors and stressed the need for their security.

The plea was filed on Friday in the wake of protests by doctors in West Bengal against the assault on their colleagues by the family of a patient, who died on Monday night.

The petition has also sought directions to Union ministries of home affairs and health and West Bengal to depute government-appointed security personnel at all state-run hospitals across the country to ensure safety and security of doctors. Due to the protests, the healthcare services in the country have been badly disrupted and many people are dying because of the absence of doctors, the plea said.