Resume duties, give time to arrange security: Bombay HC to protesting docs

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday ordered the doctors on strike to resume their duties and give some time to the government for providing them proper security.

The High Court also ordered the state government to provide security at all government hospitals so that the doctors can work without fear.

The High Court ordered that no punitive action should be taken against the protesting doctors once they resume their duties.

It further added that the matter will be next heard after 15 days.

The High Court, also on March 21 ordered Maharashtra's resident doctors, to resume work immediately or face action by the management.

The HC has specifically said that the hospital management is free to initiate action and contempt proceedings against the doctors on strike.

The strike by Maharashtra's doctors, who are protesting a spate of assaults on colleagues by patients' relatives, entered the fourth day today even as nearly 2,000 of them got expulsion notice a day ago.

The agitators said patients are usually accompanied by a large number of relatives, which puts pressure on them. They have demanded adequate security measures and a pass system, where not more than two relatives will be allowed to remain with a patient inside the ward.

Meanwhile, thousands of patients have been left to suffer and bear inconvenience at public hospitals due to the protest.