The bench led by the Chief Justice will hear the rape and murder case in Kolkata on Monday

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter on Monday in which it took no further cognizance of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month.

According to the plea list published on the top court's website, a three-judge bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud will resume hearing the suo moto case on September 30.

Last week, the bench, which also included Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, decided to postpone the hearing scheduled for September 27 on the request of the West Bengal government.

In the previous hearing, the top court expressed concern after it was made aware of a state government order requiring women doctors not to work at night.

Following the Supreme Court's intervention, the West Bengal government assured the top court that conditions that challenge the basic constitutional premise of gender equality will not be enforced.

Furthermore, it was reiterated that no adverse or punitive action should be taken against doctors returning to work.

During the hearing, the top court noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe was aimed at bringing out the “absolute truth” and “further truth” about the alleged murder and rape incident.

After going through the new status report of the CBI, the bench headed by CJI Chandrachud said, “We have looked at the status report of the CBI. If we reveal what the CBI is doing today, we will jeopardize the course of the investigation.”

“The line of further CBI investigation is aimed at bringing out the absolute truth and other truths. They all know, except the director, that the SHO himself has been arrested. “He is in the custody of the CBI and important investigations would be required in the course of which investigations were uncovered.”

“Rest assured that the CBI is not only carrying out its own independent functions but has also responded to the issues raised during the course of the last hearing,” it added.

The Supreme Court stressed that sufficient time must be given to the central investigating agency and any attempt to complete the investigation within a specific time period would “confuse” the purpose of the CBI investigation.

“We are all interested in ensuring a proper investigation to find out the ultimate truth, which will be carried out by the CBI,” the CJI-led bench said.

The Supreme Court has taken cognizance of the case of rape and murder of a trainee doctor in a Kolkata hospital and termed the incident as “horrifying”, raising the “systemic issue of safety of doctors across the country”.

“We are deeply concerned that there is a lack of safe working conditions for young doctors across the country, particularly in public hospitals,” it said.

The Supreme Court ordered the formation of a National Task Force (NTF) to suggest measures for the safety of medical professionals across the country, noting that the safety of doctors is the “paramount national concern”.

In addition, the NTF, constituted by the government on the instructions of the government, was asked to consult various medical associations while formulating effective recommendations regarding the safety, working conditions and well-being of doctors and medical professionals.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)