‘Students Are Hurt’: Calcutta HC Sends RG Kar Hospital Ex-Principal On Long Leave In Doctor Rape-Murder Case
The Calcutta high court has ordered Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Hospital to take an extended leave following the brutal rape and murder of a doctor on campus. Calcutta High Court remarks, “We cannot gag the press…what assurance are you (State) giving to doctors? They are hurt. The incident is so gruesome. They (doctors) are justified in expressing their emotions.”
“He is the first person from whom statement should have been recorded…he is heading the institution…they are not above law..they may be govt official…he is an administrator…why do you protect? Let him tell the truth…in early hours it happened…the statement is the basis sir!! Something is missing…”, as per Bar and Bench.
The court remarked that the principal is the guardian of all doctors working there and asked, if he fails to show empathy, who will? It added that he should be at home, not employed anywhere.
“If the principal has stepped down owing moral responsibility, rather serious that he is rewarded within 12 hours with another appointment. There is an apprehension that with lost time there is something that will go wrong,” Live Law India quoted court as saying.
Hours after resigning from R G Kar Medical College, Sandip Ghosh found himself at the center of a storm as he was appointed as the principal of National Medical College & Hospital (NMCH). This decision sparked outrage among the students, interns, and junior doctors at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital. The campus witnessed a stir as they vehemently opposed Ghosh’s return as their principal. The tension escalated as the students and interns took drastic measures, locking the principal’s room to prevent him from assuming charge.
Ghosh’s resignation from R G Kar Medical College was prompted by widespread protests following a tragic incident of a trainee doctor’s rape and murder on the campus. However, the news of his appointment at CNMC reignited the students’ fury, leading to protests against his reinstatement. The students stood their ground, adamantly refusing to allow Ghosh to enter the campus and take over as the new principal, signaling a deep-rooted discontent and lack of trust in his leadership.
A protesting doctor said that although they are currently observing cease-work at CNMCH, they are not creating obstructions to the functioning of the emergency department of the hospital.
Meanwhile, a two-member team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) led by member Delina Khondup reached the RG. Kar Medical College and Hospital in the morning and were in conversation with the newly appointed principal there, Dr Suhrita Paul.
