After demanding death penalty for Sanjay Roy, the convict in the RG Kar rape and murder case, during his trial at the Sealdah Civil & Criminal Court, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday challenged the West Bengal government’s appeal for the same at the Calcutta High Court.
On Monday, the Sealdah court sentenced Roy to life imprisonment. Following the verdict, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her view that Roy deserved capital punishment. Subsequently, on Tuesday, the state government filed an appeal in the high court, seeking the death sentence for the convict.
On Wednesday, when the court took up the matter to decide whether the state’s appeal can be filed for hearing, deputy solicitor general (DSG) and CBI counsel Rajdeep Majumder argued that the West Bengal government did not have the authority to file an appeal as this case was investigated by the central agency.
He stated that during Roy's trial at the Sealdah Civil & Criminal Court, both the CBI and the victim's parents had sought the death penalty. He further argued that since neither the investigating agency, the parents, nor the convict had appealed to the high court, the state government was also not entitled to do so.
The CBI counsel also cited the Lalu Prasad Yadav’s fodder scam case wherein the Supreme Court of India had said that state governments were not authorised to file appeals in matters investigated by central agencies.
However, Advocate General (AG) Kishore Datta, representing the West Bengal government, countered this argument, asserting that the comparison was not valid.
AG Datta explained that in the fodder scam case, the high court had directly instructed the CBI to conduct the investigation, whereas the RG Kar case was initially registered and investigated by the state police before being handed over to the central agency.
He also argued that unlike in the fodder scam case, the appeal in the RG Kar matter challenged the sentence, which the state government considered inadequate. Under CrPC section 377 and 378, the state was authorised to file appeals, the advocate general stated.
Although the state and the CBI presented their arguments, the high court on Wednesday observed that it was crucial to hear the testimony of the victim’s family in this case. Additionally, the convict will also give his statement.
The Calcutta High Court will take up the matter next on January 27 before deciding whether the West Bengal government’s appeal can be filed for hearing.
