New Delhi | "Please trust us," the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while requesting the doctors protesting across the country over a Kolkata doctor's alleged rape and killing to call off the strike and resume work.

The court said abstention from the work of doctors affects those segments of the society that are in need of medical care.

"We earnestly appeal to all the doctors that we are here to ensure that their safety and protection is the matter of highest national concern. Please trust us, that is why we have not left the matter to the high court.

"We felt this is not just a matter of a serious offence but which affects the institution of healthcare pan India. Therefore the need for the Supreme Court to take up the matter," a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said.

The apex court was hearing a suo-motu case related to the alleged rape and killing of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata amid nationwide protests over the incident.

The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association welcomed the apex court's intervention in the Kolkata incident, saying it will serve the interests of the medical fraternity.

"Since this court is seized of the matter pertaining to safety and well-being of all medical professionals at workplaces, we would request all the doctors abstaining from work across the country to resume work at the earliest.

"The abstention from the work of doctors affects segments of the society who need medical care the most. The doctors and medical professional shall stand assured that their concerns are receiving the highest concern from the highest court from a diverge range of counsels," the bench said.