SC formed NTF says no to separate central law to protect medicos

The National Task Force (NTF), formed by the Supreme Court in connection with the suo motu matter of RG Kar rape and murder case, has suggested in its report that a ‘separate central law’ is not needed to protect healthcare professionals.

The NTF report filed in the apex court cited that existing state laws and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), can address violence against doctors and other medical professionals.

“It has been observed that state laws have adequate provisions to address day-to-day minor offences and serious offences can be addressed by BNS. A separate central law to deal with offences against healthcare professionals is, therefore, not required,” the report said, according to The Hindu.

The report dealt with the question of whether existing law enforcement mechanisms needed to be strengthened to address violence against healthcare professionals. The NTF report highlighted that 24 states have already enacted laws addressing violence against healthcare professionals, with two more states introducing bills.

“It is noted that 24 states have already enacted laws to address violence against healthcare professionals, whereby the terms ‘healthcare professional’ and ‘medical professional’ have also been defined. Two more states have already introduced their bills in this regard. Most of the state laws cover minor offences and prescribe punishment for them. The major offences/heinous offences are adequately covered under BNS,” the NTF report added.

The National Task Force, pertaining to the safety of medical professionals, was set up by the Supreme Court on August 20 by a bench of then Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra.

The first meeting of the NTF was held on August 27. The STF collected suggestions from all stakeholders, including the doctors’ bodies and medical associations across the country to prepare its report.

According to the NTF report, in states lacking specific laws, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 can be utilised to address violence against medical professionals.

However, the doctors’ bodies have persistently been demanding to have a separate central law for the safety of medical professionals.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) earlier wrote to the NTF demanding a deterrent central law to safeguard doctors and healthcare staff, as well as designating the hospitals as safe zones.

“The only preventive strategy that could be applied across the board and across all states is a deterrent central law in statute… We, the medical professionals of India, expect the National Task Force to live up to our expectations and instil confidence in the minds of the demoralised doctor community,” the IMA wrote to NTF.

The NTF received suggestions from 53 associations and 1,700 individuals/hospitals. Over 8,000 government and private healthcare establishments with more than 100 beds were taken into account for analysing the safety measures.

The task force also suggested filing FIRs, including zero FIRs, within six hours of reporting any violence against medical professionals at their workplaces. It also identified poor communication between medical professionals and families of the patients as a significant contributor to frustration, mistrust and tension that lead to violence and mob attacks. CNBCTV18