The Supreme Court has ordered hospitals, including AIIMS Delhi, to regularise the absence of doctors who protested after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College in August 2024.

Court’s Decision on Absence Regularisation

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar addressed concerns from a doctors' body. Some hospitals followed the court’s August 22, 2024, order and regularised the absence. However, others, including AIIMS Delhi, treated it as leave. The Chief Justice clarified, "If protesting workers joined work after the Supreme Court order, their absence shall be regularised and not treated as absence from duty. This applies only to these specific cases and does not set a precedent."

Concerns for Medical Students

Doctors’ representatives warned that treating the protest period as leave could cause problems for postgraduate medical students. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the central government, assured the court that hospitals would follow the directive. The court noted that AIIMS Kalyani, AIIMS Gorakhpur, and PGI Chandigarh had already regularised the absence, but some institutions had not.

RG Kar Hospital Case Verdict

On January 20, the Sealdah sessions court sentenced Sanjay Roy to rigorous life imprisonment for raping and murdering the trainee doctor on August 9, 2024. The crime sparked nationwide protests, especially in West Bengal. Doctors went on strike in several states, disrupting medical services across India.