The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the West Bengal government to hand over the investigation of the alleged rape and murder case of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam gave the verdict while hearing multiple petitions related to the case.
While reviewing the case diary, the High Court instructed that all information and documents held by the state must be provided to the CBI.
Additionally, the police should also hand over the CCTV footage they have gathered to the CBI, ordered Chief Justice Sivagnanam, who also expressed his dissatisfaction over the role of the police in the investigation so far.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier had set a deadline till next Sunday for the police to solve the case. She had said that otherwise the case would be handed over to the CBI. The CM had said the same to the family members of the deceased.
Protesting doctors and students welcomed the decision. “We hope our student who was brutally killed gets justice. Anyone who is responsible must be punished irrespective of who they are and where they belong,” said Dr. Debabani Biswas, an associate professor of the chest medicine department at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Questions were raised over the activities of the police and their investigations into the case since the first day by protesting students. Allegedly, the murder was earlier termed as suicide, leading to the suspicion of protesters.
“We welcome the court decision to hand over the case to CBI wholeheartedly. But this is not the end of our movement. The culprits must be arrested and punished,” said Dr. Aniket Mahato of the anaesthesia department at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
#WATCH | Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation into RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident.
— ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024
Advocate Billwadal Bhattacharyya says, "...There were statements made by the Chief Minister that they have no objection in transferring the case to the CBI but… pic.twitter.com/qzcOXDiPk8
Earlier in the day, the Calcutta High Court had also ordered the state government to place the principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Dr. Sandip Ghosh, on an extended leave.
The order had come after the West Bengal government removed Ghosh and controversially appointed him as the principal of another government-run medical college, Calcutta National Medical College Hospital (CNMCH), within four hours, on Monday.
The decision added fuel to the protests by students and doctors across West Bengal that began after a trainee doctor, who was allegedly raped, was found dead in semi-nude clothing inside the seminar hall of the chest medicine department in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Friday.
Multiple allegations of financial irregularities and mismanagement were levelled against Ghosh. Students had also questioned his role as the administrative head after the death of the trainee doctor last week.
#WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident: On Calcutta High Court transfers case to CBI, a protesting doctor says "We are very happy and relieved that the case has been transferred to CBI. The accused will be arrested soon now..." pic.twitter.com/0mei2eKTY6
— ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024
Chief Justice Sivagnanam asked if the RG Kar Medical College principal was so influential that he was reappointed as the head of another prestigious medical institute in Kolkata. He also expressed disappointment over the lack of sympathy Ghosh showed for the trainee doctor who died in his college.
The students demand that Ghosh, who is still being shown as the principal on the official website of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, must not be employed in any administrative post in any medical institution.
