Calcutta High Court on Wednesday admitted a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging the prevalence of a “threat culture” in government hospitals across the state and seeking judicial intervention.

“It is a matter of grave concern if the allegations mentioned in the petition are true, then the court will interfere in the matter,” said a division bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam.

The bench fixed November 21 for a detailed hearing of the matter.

The PIL was filed by a physician, Archisman Bhattacharya, who also identifies himself as a social activist.

“The physicians, nurses and the persons engaged in providing health services are scared of this threat culture. Moreover, the high-handedness of local hooligans... has worsened the situation further in north Bengal. For the sake of common people, particularly the patients under treatment in these hospitals, the court should interfere in the matter immediately,” the PIL said.

The petition gave examples of the father of a young doctor in a north Bengal hospital advising his daughter to keep a knife in her possession for safety and of another doctor carrying pepper spray while on duty.

“The advocate general of the state should be present in this particular case,” the chief justice said.

Justice Bivas Pattanayak was the other judge on the division bench.