The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation - CBI - to file a fresh status report on the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month.
After going through the status report filed by the CBI in terms of the previous order of the apex court, a bench presided over by CJI DY Chandrachud said, "We have now seen the further line of the ongoing investigation. We do not want to comment anything in the open court. We will give you a week's time to tell us what further leads have emerged in the course of the investigation."
The Bench hearing the suo moto case captioned "Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, and related issues," was headed by Justice Pardiwala, along with Justices Misra.
It directed the CBI to file a fresh report after a week and posted the matter for further consideration on September 17.
The Supreme Court, during the hearing on August 22, called upon the CBI to continue the investigation, apart from taking on record the status report filed by the CBI as well by the Kolkata Police in relation to the vandalization of the hospital premises on the night of August 14.
It further directed that the National Task Force (NTF), established by the government upon its instructions, shall hear the various medical associations while making pragmatic recommendations on the issues relating to safety, working conditions and well-being of the doctors and medical professionals.
Taking suo moto cognizance of the rape and murder case of the trainee doctor at a Kolkata hospital, the CJI-led bench termed the incident "horrific," which raises the "systemic issue of safety of doctors across the country."
"We are deeply concerned with the fact that there is an absence of safe conditions of work for young doctors across the country, particularly, public hospitals," it said.
The apex court ordered the formation of a national task force to recommend proposals for the safety of medical professionals in the entire country, observing that the protection of doctors is the "highest national concern."
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