The Rajasthan high court has issued show cause notice to the state health authorities after a petition drew its attention towards strikes called by medicos at frequent intervals.

The division bench of chief justice Arun Mishra and justice N K Jain issued asked the state medical and health department and superintendent of Jaipur's SMS Medical College to respond within three weeks stating why the strikes by doctors be not declared as illegal.

The petition moved by Rajesh Kumar Sharma highlighted the woes of thousands of patients who suffer due to the strikes.

It has also stressed the fact that thousands of patients come from across the country for treatment at SMS hospital.

The court also appointed senior advocate R N Mathur as amicus curiae in the matter and asked him to plead the case on behalf of the victim patients.