Supreme Court advices doctors on strike to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday
On Monday, the Supreme Court advised the doctors on strike in West Bengal to end their strike and resume work by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, cautioning that if they do not comply, they may face disciplinary measures. The highest court gave an order during the trial of a medical intern who was sexually assaulted and killed at a hospital in Kolkata.
A panel headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud criticized the West Bengal government for its handling of the situation, pointing out the 14-hour gap in filing the FIR and noting that a crucial document for the autopsy was “missing”.
The Chief Justice asked, “Where is the challan of the body when it’s handed over for post-mortem?”
CBI mentions discrepancies in evidence handling and forensics
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, told the bench that the challan was not in their records. “It’s important because this column includes what other items were sent with the body,” he stated. He mentioned that without the challan, the post-mortem doctor cannot take in the body. The CBI did not possess the challan either.
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“How was the post-mortem carried out in the absence of a formal request?” the Chief Justice asked. The court also requested further explanation regarding when the report on the unnatural death in the rape and murder case of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital was filed, after the CBI submitted a status report.
Kapil Sibal represented West Bengal government in the court
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented the West Bengal government, told the bench that the death certificate was issued at 1:47 p.m., whereas the police recorded the unnatural death entry at 2:55 p.m.
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On the other hand, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the report was actually submitted at 11:30 p.m., as per the records. The CBI raised concerns about the forensics report and asked about the origin of the collected samples. The agency intends to dispatch samples to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.
Mehta, citing the forensics report, revealed that at 9:30 a.m. when the body was found, the victim’s jeans had been taken off, they were partially naked, and there were wounds on their private areas. The CBI counsel also pointed out discrepancies in the handling of evidence, noting that blood samples were not stored at the required 4 degrees Celsius, and stressed the importance of the first few hours in a rape and murder investigation.
