The Supreme Court on Friday (September 6, 2024) refused to entertain a challenge raised by former principal of R.G. Kar Hospital Sandip Ghosh against a Calcutta High Court order transferring a probe into allegations of irregularities in tender processes and mismanagement against him from the Special Investigation Team to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
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A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud questioned Ghosh’s locus standi to challenge the transfer of the investigation to another agency.
“An accused has no locus standi to intervene when the High Court is monitoring the investigation and has transferred it to the CBI,” the Chief Justice addressed senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for Ghosh.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the CBI, said an accused cannot direct the course of an investigation.
Ms. Arora said her client was in fact aggrieved by the adverse remarks made by the High Court.
Ghosh was principal at the time of the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor on August 9, which led to nationwide protests. The CBI is investigating the crime on the orders of the High Court.
He had argued that the investigation was transferred by the High Court without giving him an opportunity to be heard. He is aggrieved by High Court’s observations, apparently linking the corruption allegations against him to the incident at the hospital.
The High Court had taken exception to the death being registered as a ‘suicide’ instead of unnatural death and scorned upon Ghosh’s swift appointment to another college within 12 hours of resigning.
Published - September 06, 2024 11:58 am IST
