The Calcutta High Court on Friday (August 23, 2024) transferred the probe into allegations of corruption involving former principal of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where a trainee doctor was raped and murdered, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The court order has come as a setback for the West Bengal government that had set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising senior police officers on August 20 and had registered cases against the former principal Sandip Kumar Ghosh.
Also, on Friday, a Kolkata Court sent the prime accused in the rape and murder case, Sanjay Roy, to judicial custody till September 6.
The High Court’s decision to hand over the graft case to the CBI came in response to a petition by Akhtar Ali, the former deputy superintendent of the hospital. He had approached the court seeking an investigation by central agencies into alleged financial irregularities at the hospital. The court directed the CBI to file a status report on the next date of hearing. On Thursday, the court had asked why the SIT was not set up in 2023 when the allegations were first made.
“Subsequent to the hapless incident on August 9, the inquiry into the same was transferred to the CBI. Multiple agencies investigating similar facts may lead to delays and inefficiencies due to the involvement of multiple parties,” the court said.
Roy, the rape-murder accused, a civic police volunteer, was arrested by the Kolkata Police on August 10, a day after the crime, and had been in CBI custody since August 13, when the case was handed over to the agency. The CBI on Friday received consent from a court to conduct a polygraph test on him a day after it approached the court on Thursday. The accused was taken to Kolkata’s Presidency Correctional Home after the court proceedings.
Polygraph test will be conducted on six others: Dr. Ghosh, four doctors who had dinner with the victim on the night of August 9, and a civic police volunteer considered close to the accused. Dr. Ghosh is under the scanner for alleged irregularities at the college and has been questioned by the CBI for the past several days.
State’s appeal
On Friday, West Bengal Health Secretary N.S. Nigam appealed to resident doctors protesting over the rape-murder to resume services. He said that health services have been seriously affected because of the protest. However, resident doctors of various medical colleges and hospitals continued with their agitation. A delegation of West Bengal Joint Doctor Forum (WBJDF) went to the CBI’s office in the city and met with investigation officials.
“We appeal to the CBI and the Supreme Court to identify, investigate and bring to justice all those who are creating obstacles on our path to obtaining justice and those who are using the politics of fear to control and suppress movements in all medical colleges,” a statement from WBJDF said.
The family members of the victim told the local media that their patience was running thin as the CBI has not been able to arrest any accused since taking over the investigation on August 13.
BJP protests
During the day, the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership had called for a gherao of police stations. The protest turned violent at several places, including Nandigram and Jalpaiguri, where protesters stormed the police stations.
Several student organisations have called for a march to Nabanna, the State Secretariat, on August 27. The West Bengal government had approached the Calcutta High Court on the issue but the court refused to interfere.
“It would be unnecessarily burdening the order if all the judgments so cited are dealt with in seriatim for the simple reason that the petitioner has categorically averred in the instant writ-petition that that the said protest and/or rally is called by the quarter of the civil societies who are not affiliated with political parties or social organizations,” the High Court observed refusing to entertain the petition on the march.
Alleging that the march to the Secretariat has instilled fear in the Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari referred to an order that has been issued by the School Education Department to stop students from participating in programmes not authorised by the department.
Published - August 23, 2024 04:07 pm IST
