On the night of Monday, December 3, doctors in Kolkata once again took to the streets, sitting in a dharna in front of the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC). The reinstatement of Abhik De and Birupaksha Biswas into the council has sparked an ongoing sit-in protest, reports The Week.

Following the rape and murder episode at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, they were "debarred" from the WBMC. They were said to be part of a nexus that ran "threat cultures," bullying students into paying to pass exams and manipulating staff transfers and postings at state government hospitals.

They were also accused of being close allies of Dr Sandip Ghosh, RG Kar's former principal, who was detained in connection with the rape and murder case, as well as alleged financial problems at the institution.

Biswas was a senior resident doctor in the pathology department of Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, and De was a postgraduate trainee in general surgery at the Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial (IPGMER-SSKM) Hospital, Kolkata. Both were associated with the ruling party's student wing, the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP).

They were also reported to be present in the seminar room on the third floor of RG Kar on August 9, when the trainee doctor's body was discovered. Their apparent presence at the crime site raised suspicions because neither had an official association with the medical college.

In light of the incident, De, a member of the WBMC, and Biswas, a member of the WBMC's penal and ethics committee, were forbidden from participating in any council-related activity. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned them as part of its ongoing probe.

The West Bengal Health Department formed two four-member committees to probe the accusations. One committee, led by the principal of Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, was tasked with examining the allegations against De, while the other, led by the principal of the College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital, Kolkata, was tasked with investigating the charges against Biswas.

However, after nearly three months, the two attended a WBMC meeting on Monday, December 2, which sparked protests from several doctors. Multiple doctor organisations gathered under the aegis of the Joint Forum for Doctors before conducting a dharna in front of the council office throughout the night.

The council responded that because no written complaints were submitted against them and their names were not included in the CBI chargesheet, the decision to rescind their debarment was reversed. Furthermore, none of the claims against them have been substantiated thus far.