AMN / NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court will continue hearing on the R.G. Kar Medical College suo moto case on Sept. 17. The apex court has taken suo moto cognisance of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month.

A three-judge bench headed by CJI D. Y. Chandrachud will consider the fresh status report of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI yesterday arrested the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh and former officer-in-charge of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal in connection with the rape and murder case. Mondal was in charge of the Tala Police Station when the body of the junior doctor was recovered from the seminar hall within the hospital premises on the morning of the 9th of last month.

Ghosh was earlier arrested by the CBI in the case of financial irregularities at the institution. In the hearing held last week, the SC told the CBI to file a fresh status report by the 17th of this month. Taking suo moto cognizance of the rape and murder case of the trainee doctor at a Kolkata hospital, the Supreme Court had termed the incident ‘horrific,’ which raises the ‘systemic issue of safety of doctors across the country.’ The top court also ordered the formation of a National Task Force (NTF) to suggest measures for the security of medical professionals across the country. Further, it asked the NTF, set up by the government in its direction, to give a hearing to diverse medical associations while formulating effective recommendations relating to the safety, working conditions, and well-being of doctors and medical professionals.