SC orders West Bengal to provide accomodation, security equipment for CISF at RG Kar Hospital

Supreme Court/ File pic

The Supreme Court asked the West Bengal government on Monday to work with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to provide lodging and security equipment for workers stationed at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata by the end of the day.

A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud directed the state government to designate a senior officer from its home department and a top CISF official to collaborate on ensuring that all three companies of the central force are adequately housed, according to ANI report.

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The report added the court acknowledged the Centre's submission that one CISF company is currently housed at RMA Quarters in RG Kar College, a Kolkata Municipal Corporation School, and Indira Matri Sadan. In addition, the workers have access to six buses, four trucks, and three light motor vehicles.

The bench also asked the state administration to complete all accommodation requests by 5 pm and deliver the appropriate security equipment by 9 pm, the report stated.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, informed the court that the CISF, including its female officers, had not been supplied with adequate accommodations. In response, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, said that all required amenities had been granted to the force and that the majority of soldiers were staying on hospital grounds.

The Centre had already filed a suit on September 3, alleging a lack of cooperation from the West Bengal government in providing logistical support to CISF. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) described this as part of a "systemic malaise" and asked the court to order state agencies to properly cooperate with the CISF.

The MHA's submission voiced worry about the challenges encountered by the CISF at RG Kar Medical College, particularly in obtaining resident doctors sleeping in the hospital's hostels. It highlighted a shortage of lodging and basic security infrastructure for the deployed troops, who are now residing at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata, an hour away from the hospital, the PTI report added.

Despite the MHA's attempts to resolve the issue with the West Bengal chief secretary via a letter dated September 2, the state administration had yet to react, prompting the Centre to seek court intervention, the report added.