Srinagar: The J&K High Court on Saturday called for a legislative framework to address issues of violence against health care professionals and clinical establishments.

The court observed that so far as the issues of violence against healthcare professionals are concerned, recourse has generally been taken to the existing provisions of criminal law and at times such issues have been randomly addressed.

The court recorded that it is absolutely imperative to recognise violence against healthcare professionals and clinical establishments as specific cognizable and non-bailable offences. It is equally imperative to provide enhanced sentences of imprisonment and fines, the court said.

The court said that to address such issues during the current pandemic, it is necessary to take recourse to the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897.

“This legislation has to be visited in the light to technology developments and the current experiences. Even the provisions of this enactment need a serious re-examination,” the court noted.

The court observed that such issues need critical attention of the Government of India as well as the Governments of Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajnesh Oswal recorded that it is only after appropriate legislations have been put in place that the aspect of their enforcement could be taken up.

“Let a copy of this order be placed before the Home Secretary and Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, of the Central Government as also the Secretaries Home and Secretaries Health and Medical Education of the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh,” the court directed.

NUSRAT SIDIQ