The Supreme Court sought a response from the Centre and Medical Council of India on a PIL seeking to initiate disciplinary proceedings against doctors who refuse to give emergency treatment to patients during their strikes and demonstrations.

Agreeing to hear the plea that emergency services should not be disrupted in the hospital during demonstrations by doctors, a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia issued notices to the government, the Council and AIIMS which have witnessed many strikes in recent years.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by an NGO, pleading that the court should interfere in the matter as many lives were lost due to abrupt strikes by medical practitioners in government hospitals in recent months.