Bombay High Court Asks Government To Give Security To Doctors In Public Hospitals

The Bombay High Court on Friday asked Maharashtra government to take adequate security measures in public hospitals and deploy policemen to ensure that doctors were not harassed by relatives of patients.

"If security measures are not undertaken, then the doctors would work in an atmosphere of fear and this would not be in their interest as well as in the interest of the public," a bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka said.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by social activist Afaq Mandviya challenging the strike by Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD).

During the hearing, MARD said that the government has not taken security measures to protect them from physical assaults by relatives of ailing patients who are not satisfied with the treatment provided to their kith and kin.

The court asked the government to immediately go into the issue of providing security to the doctors.

The judges suggested that adequate number of policemen be deployed in public hospitals and boards should be prominently displayed giving timings of visiting hours and specifying how many relatives can visit a patient during the permitted hours.

The matter would now be heard on June 21.