Bombay HC orders end to MARD strike over homoeopath registration; hearing on September 8

The Bombay High Court on Thursday ordered resident doctors to immediately call off their strike against the registration of homoeopaths under the Maharashtra Medical Council, raising concern over the protest's impact on patients in hospitals across the state. The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) subsequently assured the court that the strike would be called off. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the strike and warned of stopping the wages of the protesting doctors if they failed to report back to work immediately.

It may be a legal right of every person to agitate for their rights, but not at the cost of patients, the court said. "We are worried about the health of the thousands of patients and also the residents of Maharashtra," the bench said while asking the doctors to call off their strike and resume work immediately. "Why are you resorting to a strike at the cost of patients? Tomorrow you may succeed in your agitation, but then will you be able to bring back the lives of those patients who may have died during the strike? Can they (protesting doctors) bring back dead patients to life?" the HC asked.

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Pursuant to the court's remarks, Indian Medical Association's senior counsel S U Kamdar and MARD president Dr Atharva Shinde agreed and said the strike would be called off. The court then appointed senior counsel Vineet Naik and advocate Amogh Singh as amicus to assist the court and asked them to prepare a petition so that necessary directions could be passed to ensure that doctors cannot resort to such strikes in future. The bench emphasised that it does not want a single person to lose his/her life in civic-run hospitals amid the strike. It posted the matter for further hearing on September 8.

"We have to look at what could be the ramifications. One can understand that if there is a strike in a factory for 30 days, the worst case is loss of money or earnings. In the case of lawyers, we do not say anything. In the case of doctors, if patients die, can they bring them back to life?" the court asked. Doctors have now said they will stop services in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) too if the impasse with the government continues, it noted.

The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors launched an indefinite strike from Wednesday against the government's decision permitting homoeopaths to register under the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) and prescribe allopathic medicines. Advocate General Milind Sathe informed the court that last year the HC had, in an interim order, refused to stay the registration of eligible homoeopaths with the MMC and the petition is pending before the court. The HC said the bench concerned before which the petition is pending shall hear the matter and decide it expeditiously. The MMC on June 30 issued a notification allowing homoeopaths to prescribe modern medicines after completing a six-month Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP).