Kolkata doctor rape-murder case highlights: CBI to conduct polygraph test on ex-principal Sandip Ghosh; Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi

A special Court allows the CBI to conduct a polygraph test on former RG Kar Medical College principal Sandip Ghosh and four other doctors. 

- PTI

The CBI took Mr. Ghosh and four other doctors, who were on duty on the date of the incident on August 9, to a special Court for seeking its permission to conduct the lie detection test on them, they said.

“The lie detection test can only be conducted after a permission from the Court and the consent of the suspect”, they said.

The CBI application was granted by the Special court. The agency has also sought the polygraph test on the main accused Sanjay Roy.

The psychoanalytic profile of the arrested accused in the rape and murder of the woman doctor at the State-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sanjay Roy, indicated that he was a pervert and severely addicted to pornography, a CBI officer said on Thursday.

Quoting the doctors from New Delhi’s Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), the officer also said that the civic volunteer of the Kolkata Police has an “animal-like instinct”. 

“The man showed no repentance and narrated the entire episode giving every minute detail without hiccups. It appeared that he had no remorse,” the official of the Central probe agency told PTI on Thursday.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh says, “We don’t want to comment on what the apex court has said as the matter is sub-judice. However, we welcome the Supreme Court’s observation asking political parties not to politicise the matter and directing the protesting doctors to get back to work. Some political parties are trying to politicise the incident, and the CBI is attempting to mislead the public with distorted facts,”.

- PTI

Federation of All India Medical Association calls off strike following ‘positive directions’ from Supreme Court. 

The apex court earlier in the day asked protesting doctors to resume work and assured them that no adverse action would be taken after they rejoin.

“#FAIMA has decided to call off the strike following positive directions from the #Chief Justice of India. We welcome the acceptance of our prayers for interim protections and the necessary steps to enhance security in hospitals. United, we will continue to fight legally,” FAIMA, an umbrella body of doctors, said in a post on X.

- PTI

CBI approaches a Kolkata Court for permission to conduct a polygraph test on former principal of R G Kar MCH Sandip Kumar Ghosh and four other doctors. A polygraph is also likely for the accused Sanjoy Roy in the rape and murder of doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. 

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and calls for central legislation for speedy justice in cases of sexual assault. The letter comes in the backdrop of outrage over the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

An official in Raj Bhawan claims that hours after meeting the parents of the woman doctor, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose sent a confidential letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee but it was not received by the CMO. 

There was, however, no confirmation regarding this development from the state government.

“A confidential letter was sent by a messenger to the CMO last night. But the CMO refused to receive it,” the Raj Bhavan official claims to PTI . 

- PTI

- ANI

The BJP’s march to ‘Swasthya Bhawan’, the headquarters of the State health department in Salt Lake, began from Hudco crossing, around five km away.

The State BJP had announced its leaders will gherao ‘Swasthya Bhawan’.

During the rally led by its state president Sukanta Majumdar and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari tried to break police barricades set up at several places on the route while marching to the state health department.

The police initially tried to pacify the supporters but later chased them with lathis to disperse them.

Dr Raghunandan Dixit, RDA AIIMS Delhi General Secretary says, “We were on a strike for the past 11 days. After that, the Court intervened twice. It did provide us with some relief....All our doctors will rejoin the duty today itself...”

“We are resuming duties following the Supreme Court’s appeal and assurances and intervention in the RG Kar incident and safety for doctors . We commend the Court’s action and call for adherence to its directives. Patient care remains our top priority,” the AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association said in a post on X.

The Residents Doctor’s Association in a statement says, “In view of the developments with respect to our demands, and our concerns being addressed by the Supreme Court, we hereby declare the strike to be withheld. We hereby have decided to resume all our duties.” 

- ANI

SC concludes hearing the matter. Lists the case for hearing next on September 5. 

To assuage the fears and concerns of the doctors, SC directs the MoHFW to meet with the State Chief Secretaries and DGPs to put in place some basic safety requirements till the NTF report comes.

“Exercise of holding meetings to be completed in a week. Implementation of safety requirements in two weeks”, the court orders. 

SC notes the submissions of the counsels that some protesting doctors are already being proceeded against. 

“We are expecting compliance with the assurance which is now given to the court that the doctors will join normal duties. In the meantime, if any adverse action has been taken against any protesting doctor, no coercive action should be taken”, SC orders. 

The CJI says that since the court has taken measures for the institutionalisation of the concerns of the medical professionals, it is “expected” that the doctors would now return to work. 

“Pending the report of the NTF, all State governments and Union Territories shall ensure that wherever the need arises in terms of the exigencies of work, the State shall be alert to any breach of safety of the medical establishments within their jurisdictions”, the Chief Justice records in the order. 

To facilitate the filing of suggestions from stakeholders before the NTF, SC directs the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), to establish a dedicated portal on the Ministry’s website for this purpose.

SC directs the NTF to consider suggestions from counsels on establishing distress call systems; filing of institutional FIRs and setting up a compensation distress fund. 

The court underscores that no coercive action should be taken against peaceful protesters. 

“We categorically reaffirm that peaceful protests shall not be disturbed or disrupted and the State shall not take any action against those who are peacefully protesting against the incident at RG Kar College”, CJI records in the order. 

CJI Chandrachud starts dictating the order in open court. 

“A status report has been submitted by the CBI. Likewise, a status report has been submitted by the Kolkata police”, he records in the order. 

SC notes that a request for conducting a polygraph test on the accused has been submitted by the CBI to the ACJM, Sealdah. The court directs that the ACJM Sealdah should pass orders on the application by 5 pm tomorrow i.e. on August 23. 

Addressing Mr. Sibal’s submission, CJI Chandrachud however points out that nothing justifies a 14-hour delay in registration of the FIR. 

“The principal of the college should have supposed to come straight to the college and filed the FIR, whom is he protecting?”, he adds. 

Mr. Sibal refers to existing regulations that the Kolkata police has to adhere to during the investigation. He says that this will ensure that some “misgivings are cleared”. 

The senior counsel explains how a UD case is registered according to the regulation. “We have followed the regulations to the T”, he adds. 

The Bench has reconvened. The hearing has resumed. 

The Bench rises for lunch. The hearing will resume at 2 pm. 

A lawyer refers to the purported presence of “150 mg of semen”. 

CJI Chandrachud debunks the claim and urges the lawyer to not use social media to make arguments in court. He reminds the lawyer that the Bench is cognisant of the post-mortem report. 

Clearing the air on the timeline of events, Justice Misra points out – “First, a General Diary entry is made of the information received. Then the police proceeds to the crime scene with the case diary. The important part is in the inquest report, which shows the information regarding unnatural death was received and registered on August 9 at 10.10 am”. 

CJI Chandrachud says that the General Diary entry at the police station shows that a call from the RG Kar Hospital came at 10.10 am informing that a woman was lying “unconscious” in the seminar room. 

He underscores that it is “clear from the case diary” that the cordoning off of the crime scene took place only after the post-mortem was conducted. 

Justice Pardiwala reiterates that the Unnatural Death (UD) case and the inquest panchnama were registered only after the conduct of a post-mortem. 

Addressing Mr. Sibal, the judge remarks – “The entire procedure followed by your police (Kolkata Police) is something not seen by me in my 30-year career”. 

CJI reads out the entire case diary to show the UD case was registered only at 11.30 pm on August 9. The post-mortem was conducted between 6 pm and 7 pm followed by the Magistrate inquest. 

Justice JB Pardiwala asks for the time when the autopsy was conducted. Mr. Sibal responds by saying “6:10 pm”. 

Highlighting that the autopsy was conducted before the registration of an unnatural death case, Justice Pardiwala remarks – “Why should a post-mortem precede registration of an unnatural death case? If this is a fact, then it is a very dangerous fact”. 

Denying this, Mr. Sibal claims that the General Diary entry of the unnatural death was made at 1.45 pm. 

CJI Chandrachud points out that an unnatural death case was reported at 10:10 am, however, the crime scene was secured only at 11:45 pm. He says that this is a “very disturbing aspect”. 

Denying this, Mr. Sibal shares a document outlining the timeline of events with the Bench. 

Justice Manoj Mishra further flags that the autopsy was conducted only in the evening hours when a case of unnatural death was registered in the morning itself. 

Mr. Mehta discreetly hands over to the Bench a complaint received by the CBI. The complaint is filed in a sealed cover. He further informs the Bench that the CBI Director had received the complaint yesterday which contains allegations from 2023. 

Mr. Sibal asks for a copy of the formal complaint. 

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the CBI alleges that the agency took up the investigation on the fifth day and the crime scene was “altered”.

Mr. Sibal denies this assertion, he stresses that “everything was videographed”. 

CJI Chandrachud asks for the medical examination report of the accused.

Mr. Sibal responds by saying that the report forms a part of the case diary. 

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta intervenes at this point and says that the medical report was not handed over to the CBI. He further apprises the Bench that the FIR in the case was registered at 11.45 pm after the cremation was already done. 

“The parents were informed with delay. They were initially informed that she was unwell. Then she committed suicide. Her young colleagues had insisted on videography”, Mr. Mehta contends. 

Mr. Sibal appearing for the West Bengal govt however insists that this is not true. “There is a timeline of the events, everything was videographed”, he adds. 

The Bench takes on record the status reports filed by the CBI and the Kolkata police. 

The CBI probe status report is being looked at first by the judges. 

The Chief Justice says that due to a “certain hierarchical nature” of work in public hospitals, junior doctors often bear the brunt of long hours. He adds that 36 and 48-hour shifts are “not even humane”.

Senior advocate Geeta Luthra appearing for resident doctors at the RG Kar Hospital points out that they still feel “threatened and terrorised”.

Intervening, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for West Bengal, points out that this is happening despite the ​CISF personnel guarding the premises​. 

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, for Delhi Medical Association, wants the presence of medical associations on the NTF. He submits that institutional FIRs should be registered by the police within two hours of the incident. He further seeks the establishment of a distress alert system for doctors. 

CJI asks lawyers to write down their suggestions and assures that the terms of reference of NTF are non-exhaustive.

Senior advocate Devadutt Kamat, appearing for resident doctors, submits that they should be a part of the National Task Force (NTF) constituted by the court. 

Addressing this, CJI Chandrachud says that the panel’s work would become unwieldy.

“There are senior doctors in the committee. The committee will extensively hear interns, paramedical staff, nurses, residents, and senior residents”, the CJI adds. 

The Chief Justice further asserts that the NTF will give resident doctors a representative voice to put forth their grievances. 

Earlier, the Federation of Association of Medical Associations of India (FAIMA) and Delhi Medical Association had filed intervention applications seeking the inclusion of resident doctors in the NTF. 

Doctors of AIIMS, Nagpur apprises the Bench that they have been marked absent and their casual leaves have been deducted due to their ongoing strikes. 

Appealing to the doctors to resume work, CJI Chandrachud remarks – “Doctors must come back to duty. There are people who need them. How will public health infrastructure run without them?” 

Supreme Court has begun hearing pleas related to the RG Kar Hospital murder and rape case. 

In the face of widespread protests over the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in which the prime accused is a civic police volunteer, a government notification on Wednesday called for an increase in the bonus for civic police volunteers.

According to the notification from the Home Department, the ad-hoc bonus for civic volunteers and village police volunteers has been increased from ₹ 5300 to ₹ 6000 for 2023-2024.

The development assumes significance as questions have been raised about the engagement of civic police volunteers who have no accountability. There are over one lakh civic police volunteers and village police volunteers in the State. Kolkata has about 7,200 civic police volunteers.

Read more here. 

Ripples of the State-wide protests against the rape and murder of a woman doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) have dampened this year’s Durga Puja spirits, with multiple Puja organisers rejecting the yearly festive honorarium given by the Mamata Banerjee government in protest.

On July 23 this year, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a hike in the honorarium for community Durga Pujas, increasing it to ₹85,000 per puja committee from ₹70,000 last year.

However, many puja committees have decided not to accept the grant in a bid to demand justice for the woman doctor who was raped and killed at the State-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. For some organisers, the decision is also a show of support for the massive protests that have erupted across the State since then.

Read more here. 

Doctor’s rape, murder: Durga Puja panels in West Bengal reject government honorarium

Kolkata doctor rape and murder case: State-wide protests against rape and murder dampen Durga Puja spirits as some organisers reject government honorarium in protest.

A former deputy superintendent of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital moved the Calcutta High Court, seeking an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation against its former principal Sandip Ghosh, alleging financial irregularities by him during his tenure at the State-run facility.

Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj granted permission to Akhtar Ali to file the petition, seeking an order directing the Enforcement Directorate to probe alleged financial irregularities against Dr. Ghosh.

Mr. Ali had earlier claimed that he had complained against Dr. Ghosh in 2023 to the West Bengal government authorities. - PTI

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud will shortly resume hearing the matter.

​Watch the live proceedings here​. 

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With the Supreme Court directing the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to provide security to the doctors at R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, the West Bengal government on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) issued an order to engage retired police and Army officers as security officials in State-run health facilities.

An order by the Additional Director General, Law and Order, Manoj Verma addressed to Superintendents of Police, sought details of retired police and Army officers who can be engaged on security duty at health facilities.

Read more here. 

Kolkata doctor rape and murder: Former principal of R.G. Kar Hospital booked for graft

West Bengal government deploys retired police and Army officers for security at State-run health facilities amid ongoing protests.

At the very outset of the proceedings, the Chief Justice asserted that the court’s decision to take suo motu cognisance was not only motivated by the severity of the murder at the Kolkata hospital but also by broader systemic issues concerning the safety of doctors throughout the country. He also expressed disappointment over the publication of the victim’s name and photographs by the media, which contravenes existing legal prohibitions.

Watch the video to know more:

Watch: Kolkata rape and murder case: What the Supreme Court said

In this video we will take you through some of the key directions issued by the Supreme Court in the Kolkata rape and murder case

Protest by junior doctors in the State, in response to the recent rape and murder of a woman medical student at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, continued for an eighth day on Wednesday. Representatives from the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA) met Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and submitted to him a formal representation that called for increased security at government hospitals.

The doctors urged the Minister to ensure the enforcement of Government Order MS 103, which allows for the deployment of the Special Protection Force (SPF) at all government general and teaching hospitals in Telangana. They also pressed for the implementation of the Central Protection Act (CPA) for doctors, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2022 but is yet to be enacted.

Read more here. 

The court, in a 16-page order, said several States, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, have enacted legislation to protect healthcare service professionals from violence and damage to property. Under these State laws, the offence is non-bailable and punishable with three years of imprisonment.

“However, these enactments do not address the institutional and systemic causes that underlie the problem. An enhanced punishment without improving institutional safety standards falls short of addressing the problem effectively,” the Bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted.

The court listed the ground realites faced by medical professionals at work. These include a lack of adequate resting places during night duty.

Read more here. 

State laws to punish violence against doctors hardly matter when safety standards in hospitals are low, says Supreme Court

Supreme Court addresses violence against medical professionals, highlighting the need for improved safety standards in hospitals.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) said the “horrific” rape and murder of a junior doctor at the State-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata was the last straw and “the nation cannot wait for another rape and murder in order to bring in safety laws for medical professionals and doctors”.

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, heading a three-judge Bench, warned the West Bengal government against “unleashing” its might on protestors expressing their grief and shock at a brutal crime committed on a young doctor while she was resting in the hospital’s seminar room during a 36-hour shift on August 9.

Read more here. 

Kolkata doctor rape and murder: SC constitutes 10-member task force to formulate protocol for ensuring safety of doctors

RG Kar rape and murder case: Supreme Court constitutes a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety of doctors

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said on Wednesday (August 21, 2024) that it ordered social media platforms to remove posts naming the victim. 

The Ministry’s order to platforms comes as an enforcement of Supreme Court directions issued on Tuesday (August 20, 2024), after two lawyers approached the Court regarding the wide circulation of the postgraduate medical trainee’s name, and images of her dead body after the incident. 

Read the story here.

The West Bengal government removed three senior officials of the R.G. Kar hospital, bowing to the demand of junior doctors.

R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital’s former principal doctor Sandip Ghosh, who was shifted to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital as its principal, was also removed from that position, Health Secretary N.S. Nigam said.

The three senior officials of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) were transferred to various state-run health facilities, he said.

According to an order issued on Wednesday evening, Prof (Dr) Bulbul Mukhopadhyay, the Medical Superintendent and Vice Principal of the R.G. Kar MCH, was replaced by Saptarshi Chatterjee with immediate effect.

Manas Kumar Bandyopadhyay was named the new principal of RGKMCH, replacing Suhrita Paul, who was made the principal of the Barasat Government Medical College and Hospital, it said.

RGKMCH’s chest medicine department head Arunabha Datta Chaudhuri was transferred to the Malda Medical College and Hospital, according to the order.

​Read more here​. 

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Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: Three officials of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital transferred amid protests

Former RG Kar Medical College principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh removed from Calcutta National Medical College; officials transferred amid protests.

The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday issued an office memorandum for the constitution of the National Task Force (NTF) to formulate protocols governing the safety of doctors.

The Cabinet Secretary will be the chairperson of the task force mandated to formulate effective recommendations to remedy the issues of concern pertaining to safety, working conditions and well-being of medical professionals and other related matters.

Read the story here.

Resident doctors from three major government hospitals in Delhi — AIIMS, Safdarjung, and Lady Hardinge Medical College — staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.

On the tenth day of the ongoing stir by the resident doctors’ associations, called in response to the incident in Kolkata, the medicos offered outpatient department (OPD) services free of cost to the public. 

The doctors have been demanding a Central law for the safety of medical professionals working at hospitals across the country. Around 500 doctors participated in the protest.

Read the story here.