Resume work by tomorrow or face action: HC to striking doctors

Lambasting the agitating resident doctors of the Maharashtra government hospitals for taking "undue advantage of its sympathy," the Bombay High Court today asked them to resume work by tomorrow morning or face action.

Irked by the doctors' failure to resume work today despite giving an assurance to the court that they will do so, a bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G S Kulkarni said if they stretch the matter, the "public will hit" them.

The bench had yesterday asked all the resident doctors to resume work immediately and resolve their issues with the government amicably.

But it got upset when it was informed by the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that despite the court's order, the doctors are still on strike.

"If this is the attitude of the doctors, the respective hospital management can initiate suitable action against them and terminate their services," said the bench tersely.

The bench, however, gave the agitating doctors time till 8 AM tomorrow to report back to work or else face action. BMC counsel Suresh Pakhale today informed the court that 135 people have lost their lives in the three civic body-run hospitals (Sion, KEM and Nair) due to the resident doctors' strike since March 20.

To this, Chief Justice Chellur said, "The life of the patients are more important that your (doctors) demands." "Despite assurances, if the doctors have not resumed (work), we think we made a mistake yesterday by showing them sympathy and appreciating their work," the bench said.

"The doctors are taking undue advantage of us and our sympathy. If you (doctors) keep stretching the matter like this, the public will come and hit you. You are creating this atmosphere," remarked an upset chief justice.

"Let the hospital management take suitable action against the doctors then. Let them all be terminated," the court said.

Nearly 4,000 resident doctors have stayed away from work since Monday, demanding enhanced security in the wake of a string of attacks on their colleagues by patients' relatives at government hospitals across the state.

On the court's direction today, the secretary and the president of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) filed an affidavit stating that the association has asked all its members to resume work immediately.

"The association has no objection if action is initiated against those doctors who fail to resume work," the affidavit said.

The court said instead of striking work, the doctors could have approached it if their demands for enhancing security at work were not being heeded to by the government.

"In court, the doctors are giving one impression that they will resume work but outside they are doing what they want to. We tried to help but if this is the attitude then we cannot do anything more," the court said.

Advocate General Rohit Deo told the court that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had yesterday and today met with the doctors' representatives and assured them that their demands for security would be fulfilled.

"But despite these assurances, the doctors refrained from going to work," Deo said.