Dr Joshi also claimed in his plea that the Maharashtra government had failed to implement existing legal provisions, including the 2010 Act to curb such instances.
Bombay High Court. File pic
The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to place on record the number of FIRs registered so far in cases of assault on doctors and other medical staff by the relatives of patients.
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A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one Dr Rajeev Joshi, seeking judicial intervention to curb violence against healthcare professionals.
As per the PIL, Maharashtra witnesses the maximum number of such instances of violence. Dr Joshi also claimed in his plea that the Maharashtra government had failed to implement existing legal provisions, including the 2010 Act to curb such instances.
On Thursday, the bench said that in the present circumstances, when medical professionals were working round the clock, the government needed to ensure that they stayed safe.
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"We need to protect the doctors at this hour, especially when they are already working hard and are under stress," the high court said. "As a responsible state, we will fail in our duty if we do not protect them," it said.
The court directed the state government to go through the previous orders on the issue passed by another bench of the court. In 2016, the then chief justice of the Bombay High Court, Manjula Chellur, had issued a slew of directions on the issue.
"Let us see if the directions are being followed or not," the HC said referring to the 2016 order. "Tell us how many offences have been registered so far in cases of assault on doctors in the state," it said. The HC will continue the hearing next week.
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