Doctors right to Strike : Supreme Court admits appeal, asks State Govt to file response

New Delhi: The Supreme Court did not interfere with an ongoing probe into a strike by junior doctors of a Uttar Pradesh hospital which had allegedly led to the death of several patients, but decided to hear an appeal against Allahabad High Court verdict directing the authorities to penalise them.

"Let the inquiry go on," a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said when senior advocate Sidharth Luthra was making submissions to assail the order of High Court which had also directed that Rs 25 lakh compensation be given to each family, the amount of which would be deducted from salaries, stipend and allowances of the striking doctors if deaths were found to have taken place due to the strike.

The bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, issued notices and sought response of the state government, Health Department, Director of Medical and Health, Vice Chancellor of King George Medical University and an individual on whose PIL the High Court had delivered the judgement.

Luthra, appearing for the doctors' body, Medico-Legal Action Group (MLAG), stressed that the direction to recover the compensation amount from the striking doctors will lead to many complications and therefore it needed to be examined by the apex court.