Supreme Court to hear plea on Kolkata doctor rape-murder case tomorrow

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday a suo motu case, ahead of other matters, related to the rape and murder of a postgraduate medic at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata amid the ongoing nationwide doctors' strike over it. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, which had taken cognisance of the incident, has kept the matter on top of the cause list for hearing at 10:30 am on Tuesday.

The suo motu cognisance of the case, titled "In Re: Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata and related issue", assumes significance in view of the fact that Calcutta High Court is already in action and has transferred the probe into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The top court may widen the spectrum of judicial scrutiny, keeping in mind the ongoing nationwide protests, especially by the doctors and their concerns.

The doctors' strike over the rape and murder of the medic completed a week on Sunday and is now entering its second week, causing difficulties for patients. The protesting doctors want the CBI to catch the culprits and for the court to impose the maximum punishment on them. They also want an assurance from the government that "no such incidents occur in the future".

Kolkata Case: CBI probe, vandalism, court order

According to the cause list for August 20 uploaded on the apex court website, the bench will comprise Chief Justice Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra. The alleged rape and murder of the junior doctor in a seminar hall of the state-run hospital has sparked nationwide protests. The medic's body with severe injury marks was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital's chest department on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the case the following day.

On August 13, Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the probe from the Kolkata Police to the CBI, which started its investigation on August 14. The high court ordered the transfer of the probe to the CBI while hearing petitions, including one moved by the victim's parents praying for a court-monitored probe. Observing that the mob violence at the hospital was an absolute failure of the state machinery, the high court on August 16 directed the police and the hospital authorities to file affidavits on the situation there. The high court had said it was hard to believe that the police intelligence did not have information about the gathering of 7,000 people, when the state's lawyer told the court that a mob of such a number had assembled at the hospital in the early hours of Thursday.