Sakshi Chhabra
On Tuesday, a PIL has been filed seeking guidelines for the protection of doctor assaulted by the families of covid patients. The Bombay high court said that a public interest litigation highlighting non-implementation of salutary law to protect doctors against attacks, raises “a concern of seminal importance”.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Girish Kulkarni directed the state to file a reply in two weeks to the PIL filed by Dr. Rajeev Joshi through Advocate Nitin Deshpande. Deshpande urged the bench to grant an urgent hearing in view of the rising cases of Covid. The hearing took place via video- conferencing.
Dr. Joshi’s counsel Nitin Deshpande submitted that violence against medical professionals was increasing day by day.
He highlighted the fact that the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss of Property) Act of 2010 was not sufficient to protect the doctors. The act is not adequate to meet the challenge or to curb the menace.
The scope of the Act is very limited. It Does not protect many categories of hospital staff and stipulates a meagre punishment. The PIL seeks HC intervention to frame guidelines for effective implementation of the law.
The counsel further stated that similar laws for the protection of doctors in other states are sufficient but the one in Maharashtra is not.
The court adjourned the hearing till next Tuesday.