The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the formation of a national task force to suggest measures for the security of medical professionals across the country, observing that the safety of doctors is the “highest national concern”.

A bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, which has taken suo moto cognisance of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata earlier this month, termed the incident “horrific” which raises “systemic issue of safety of doctors across the country”.

“We are deeply concerned with the fact that there is an absence of safe conditions of work for young doctors across the country, particularly, public hospitals,” CJI Chandrachud-led Bench said.