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Kolkata: Two senior West Bengal government doctors seen at the forefront of the agitation following the August 9, 2024 rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, have been summoned by police in connection with a protest rally held on October 8 last year.
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The rally was held by private medical practitioners but doctors from government hospitals also took part in it.
The summon notices, copies of which were seen by HT, were sent by Kolkata’s Bowbazar police station on Tuesday to Dr Manas Gumta and Dr Subarna Goswami, who are posted in Bankura and Darjeeling districts, respectively.
The case (No 227 dated October 8, 2024) was filed under sections 3 (5) (joint liability for criminal acts committed by multiple individuals with a common intention), 285 (posing danger or obstruction on public road) and 126 (2) (wrongfully restraining or obstructing people’s movement) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
While Dr Gumta was summoned to the Bowbazar police station on September 3, Dr Goswami was asked to come on September 2. The notices say that failure to comply will invite legal action under Section 208 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) which can be simple imprisonment for up to one month or a fine of up to ₹5,000 or both.
“The notices have been sent under Section 179 of BNSS which empowers police to summon and question a person acquainted with a case,” a Kolkata police official said, requesting anonymity.
Dr Goswami said: “This is the first time that I have been summoned in this case. Although the section under which the notice was sent implies that I have been called as a witness, it is obvious that this is vindictive politics.”
“People have the constitutional right to hold peaceful protests. In a state where ministers skip summons sent by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), the government expects us to respond to police summons. However, as law abiding citizens, we will go,” he added.
Dr Gumta said: “The investigating officer did not give me any detail when he called me up on Monday night. He only said he wants to know about the rally. It was held by private practitioners from Bowbazar to Esplanade.”
The summons were issued around six months after Dr Gumta, Dr Goswami and two more government doctors, Utpal Banerjee and Ranjan Bhattacharya, were accused by the West Bengal Medical Council of disrupting its operations. The council lodged a complaint at the Electronics Complex police station in Salt Lake in the last week of January.
The council is an autonomous body constituted under the provisions of the Bengal Medical Act 1914. Granting registration to practitioners having qualifications recognised by the National Medical Commission and probing complaints of medical negligence and breach of ethics are part of its functions.
“The police have not contacted us in connection with that complaint till now,” Dr Gumta said.
No Trinamool Congress leader commented on the summons sent to the two doctors on Tuesday.
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