The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a contempt petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), beseeching the court to help doctors in Delhi to get their salaries paid on time amid the raging battle against the pandemic.
Appearing before a Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan, senior advocate Maninder Singh said that on one hand doctors are hailed as “frontline warriors” against COVID-19, while on the other, they are not paid their monthly salaries.
The Supreme Court agreed with Mr. Singh.
“No doubt doctors need to be paid on time,” Justice Bhushan said.
The court gave IMA liberty to move the Delhi High Court, where their case is already pending, seeking immediate relief.
Mr. Singh said the salaries for April and May were paid after the High Court’s intervention, but no salary was paid again from June to October.
The Bench noted that the High Court had passed an order on July 29 and it was still monitoring the issue.
On July 29, the Delhi High Court had told the Delhi government to release to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation the funds it required to pay the stipends of resident doctors in the six hospitals run by the civic body.
