Court orders guidelines to protect nurses

"Slavery and begging is not prevalent in any part of the world," the division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna earlier commented on the plea of a 22-year-old nurse whose certificates were withheld by an hospital from where she wanted to resign.

The bench said: "We direct the city government to consider framing of guidelines in three months so that the nurses don't feel that they are being harassed."

The court disposed off the petition of Ancy N. who moved the court against Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.

She alleged the hospital refused to give back her original certificates and accept her resignation when she wanted to attend to her terminally-ill mother in Kerala.

Jose Abraham, counsel for Ancy, told the court that the hospital took all her original certificates at the time of joining March 1.

The hospital administration refused to grant her leave to attend to her mother, suffering from cancer, the petition said.

The nurse said her only sibling was mentally challenged and she wanted to join her mother.