Calcutta HC refuses to pass interim order on doctors' strike, tells Mamata govt to persuade protesters to resume work

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday refused to pass any interim order on the strike by junior doctors in protest against an attack on their colleagues at a hospital in Kolkata and asked the West Bengal government to resolve the issue so that patients can get health services. A division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Suvra Ghosh also directed the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to apprise it of the steps taken following the attack on junior doctors, two of whom suffered serious injuries, at NRS Medical College and Hospital on Monday night after death of a patient. [caption id=“attachment_6815801” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Junior doctors hold placards during their strike in protest against an attack on an intern doctor, at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Friday. PTI[/caption] The chief justice, during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), reminded the striking doctors of the ‘Hippocratic Oath’ they take to ensure the welfare of all patients. The bench fixed 21 June for further hearing of the petition. Claiming that the strike by the doctors is unlawful, petitioner Kunal Saha prayed that the state take meaningful steps to end the impasse. Appearing for the state, Advocate General Kishore Dutta submitted before the court that the government does not support the strike. When the chief justice asked him whether the police have initiated action in the case of attack on junior doctors by the relatives and neighbours of a patient, who died Monday night at NRS hospital, Dutta answered in the affirmative. The bench asked the state government to persuade the striking doctors to resume work and provide usual services to patients. Doctors across all state-run hospitals in West Bengal are on a strike, demanding adequate security in medical colleges and hospitals. Emergency wards, outpatient facilities, pathological units of many state-run medical colleges and hospitals and a number of private medical facilities in the state have remained closed for the last three days in the wake of the protest.