Calcutta HC bars govt from taking action against doctor protesting his transfer

Kolkata, July 30 A single-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Wednesday, barred the West Bengal government from taking any administrative or disciplinary action against a senior resident doctor who had approached the court against his 'arbitrary' transfer to a far-off location in the state.

The senior resident doctor, Aniket Mahato, a leading face of the movement against the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises in August last year, recently approached the Calcutta High Court against his transfer by the state health department.

The matter came up for hearing at Calcutta High Court’s single-judge Bench of Justice Biswajit Basu on Wednesday, and at the end of the hearing, the Bench barred the state government from taking any administrative or disciplinary action against Mahato.

At the same time, Justice Basu’s Bench also dismissed the plea of the state government for shifting the hearing in the matter from Calcutta High Court to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT).

The contention of the West Bengal government was that since the state pays the stipend for senior resident doctors, the matter should be heard at the SAT only. However, Justice Basu rejected that argument of the state government and ruled that the matter would be heard at his Bench.

Mahato contended that as a post-graduation student of medical science, his position as the senior resident doctor was not a permanent appointment and was just a contractual arrangement, and hence, he did not come under the purview of permanent employment obligations.

Justice Basu also observed that in the future, the state government should think before taking such a decision.

West Bengal Junior Doctor’s Front (WBJDF), the umbrella body of junior doctors in the state spearheading the movement against the R.G. Kar rape and murder tragedy, had already described the transfer of Mahato and some other senior resident doctors involved in the movement, as vendetta on part of the state government.

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