Bombay High Court Issues Warning to Striking Doctors, Orders Immediate Return to Work

Mumbai, August 6: The Bombay High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the ongoing strike by doctors. In a stern warning to the protesting doctors, the court stated that if they refuse to return to work, their salaries will be withheld. The court raised a critical question: “If a patient dies in a municipal hospital during the strike, who will take responsibility?”

Doctors in Maharashtra are protesting against a state government decision that allows homeopathic doctors to practice allopathy through a bridge course. Lawyers representing the Indian Medical Association argued that homeopathic practitioners should not be granted allopathic rights. The court has directed the doctors to immediately call off their strike.

The lawyers for the Indian Medical Association mentioned that their petition challenging the state government’s decision to permit homeopathic doctors to practice allopathy has been pending for the last 12 years. The state government formed a committee via a government order on August 3, but registration for the course began before the committee’s work was completed, which they contest.

The High Court warned the striking doctors that even if their petition is eventually approved and they win, they would be held accountable for any patient deaths during the strike. The court ordered all doctors to return to work after their lunch break, assuring them that it would listen to the concerns of the protesters.

It is noteworthy that the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) initiated the strike in opposition to the government’s decision, which allows homeopathic doctors to prescribe allopathic medicines under a Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP). A significant number of resident doctors and officials from the IMA gathered at Azad Maidan in Mumbai, holding placards and chanting slogans against the CCMP, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the decision.

The striking doctors argue that a mere 90-day course cannot equate homeopathic doctors with MBBS and MD practitioners. They believe this decision jeopardizes patient safety and health.

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