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A day after the Supreme Court of India asked doctors in West Bengal protesting against the brutal rape and murder of a trainee postgraduate doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to end the demonstration, junior doctors in the city said on Tuesday (Sept 10) that they would continue their agitation until justice was done.

According to a report by NDTV, the doctors said that the protest was a people's movement and neither the state government nor the Supreme Court should forget that.

A spokesperson of the junior doctors at the institute said that the doctors were "extremely disappointed" by the apex court's hearing. "...the case has been transferred from the High Court to the Supreme Court, from the state police to the CBI. But justice is still out of reach," the spokesperson added, as reported by NDTV.

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What did the Supreme Court say?

On Monday, the Supreme Court took up the suo moto case of the brutal rape and murder of the doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. During the hearing, the court ordered the protesting doctors in West Bengal to return to work by Tuesday 5 pm. 

Also read | Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: India's Supreme Court tells protesting doctors in Bengal to return to work

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Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who was appearing on behalf of the state of West Bengal, undertook that no punitive action, including punitive transfers, will be ordered against the doctors who return to work.

Sibal submitted in the court that 23 patients have lost their lives due to the absence of doctors and 600,000 people have been denied treatment. 

Senior Advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for an association of resident doctors, submitted that the doctors are protesting because of their genuine apprehensions and that junior doctors are getting threats and facing bullying. 

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud urged the doctors to return to work, ensuring their safety would be taken care of.

"You have to now return to work and if you do not come to work, do not hold anyone responsible for disciplinary action against you. You cannot say that seniors are working so we will not," CJI Chandrachud said.

"Protest cannot be at the cost of duty," he added and pointed out that if the doctors did not resume work, then the court could not stop the state government from taking disciplinary action.

IMA Bengal disheartened by Supreme Court's order

Apart from the protesting doctors in Kolkata, the Indian Medical Association's (IMA) Bengal branch also expressed its disappointment over the Supreme Court's order for junior doctors to return to work.

"We were expecting a positive outcome, keeping in mind the brutality of the offence. However, we are totally disheartened by the proceedings of the court and the CBI," IMA Bengal said in a statement.

Also watch | Kolkata horror: Resignation should serve as a wake up call, says Jawhar Sircar

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"No step was taken for a speedy trial to deliver justice to our colleague. We were even more disheartened to learn that the Supreme Court has asked the junior doctors who are the forerunners of this protest to return to work by 5 pm tomorrow," it added.

"It was also very shocking to note the way the junior doctors were portrayed as responsible for a few deaths in the hospitals is false and in no hospital, the service is completely hampered due to the movement of the junior doctors," the association further said. 

(With inputs from agencies)