Threat Culture Row: Junior Doctor Faces Legal Notice Over 'Notorious Criminal' Remarks
Kolkata: Aniket Mahato, the face of the junior doctors' movement in West Bengal advocating for justice for the rape and murder case at R G Kar Medical College, received a legal notice on Friday. The notice was issued by one of the doctors recently suspended by the college council on charges of fostering a ''Threat Culture.''
The legal notice was issued based on Mahato’s comments during the meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) on Monday. During the meeting, he described the suspended doctors as “notorious criminals”. This prompted the doctor to slap a legal notice against Mahato.
The legal notice was issued by one of the suspended doctors, Atanu Biswas, warning Mahato of potential libel action unless he publicly apologizes within three days.
The situation escalated when the Chief Minister, during a meeting, questioned how the college council of R G Kar could suspend so many doctors without the consent of the state health department. In response, Mahato defended the council, asserting that the disciplinary committee's suspensions were based on a thorough investigation.
According to an IANS news report, “They were not suspended out of personal vendetta. Those who were suspended were notorious criminals,” Mahato said in his counter-argument at the meeting on Monday.
Mahato was slapped with the notice just days after the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge vacation bench on October 22 issued an interim stay on the suspensions of 51 doctors from R.G. Kar Medical College. These doctors were accused of creating a threatening environment within the hospital and college premises.
In the recent ruling, the vacation bench of Justice Chanda has also highlighted that only the state government holds the power to make the final decision about these suspensions. He ruled that the resolution passed by R G Kar authorities on October 5 would not take effect.
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