Calcutta HC asks parents of RG Kar victim to seek clarification from CJ's bench on further probe

KOLKATA : A single bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed parents of the RG Kar hospital victim to seek clarification from the bench of the Chief Justice whether it can hear their petition seeking further probe in the rape-murder case, as it is already hearing the matter.

The petitioners' lawyer submitted he wants to canvass issues that have not yet been considered by the CBI, and that they are aggrieved by the ongoing investigation of the case. The CBI counsel submitted that further investigation is in progress and three status reports have been filed by the agency before the Supreme Court, after submission of the chargesheet in the trial court in connection with the case.

Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, before whose bench the matter was moved, said since the bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam had ordered a CBI investigation into the rape and murder of the on-duty medic at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, the petitioner should obtain clarification from it as to whether he can hear the petition.

He also noted that the Supreme Court, in a suo motu case with regard to the rape-murder of the doctor, was in seisin of some of the issues associated with the investigation along with other matters related to the medical profession.

Justice Ghosh directed the petitioners to seek clarification from the appropriate forum before proceeding with the merits of the petition moved before it. The matter will be taken up for hearing again on January 15, by which time the clarification should be obtained.

The CBI has filed a chargesheet against the prime accused in the case, Sanjay Roy. In its chargesheet filed before a special CBI court here, it said Roy, who was working as a civic volunteer with the local police, allegedly committed the crime on August 9 when the medic had gone to sleep in the hospital's seminar room during a break.

The additional chief judicial magistrate's court at Sealdah court here had on December 13 granted bail to former officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhijit Mondal and R G Kar Medical College and Hospital ex-principal Sandip Ghosh in connection with the case.

Bail was granted to them in the case, as the CBI had failed to file chargesheets against them within the 90-day statutory period, according to their lawyers. While Mondal was accused of alleged delay in filing of FIR, Ghosh was accused of tampering of evidence.

Though Mondal walked out of the correctional home on being granted bail, Ghosh, who is on judicial remand in another case of alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar hospital, will, however, remain behind bars despite being granted bail in the rape-murder case.