Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plans to submit the case diary for the RG Kar rape and murder case today at the Calcutta High Court, under the supervision of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh. This submission comes as the court begins a fresh hearing on the case, following a green light from the Supreme Court earlier this month.
This marks the second day of hearings at Justice Ghosh’s bench, and there’s considerable interest in whether the CBI will clarify a key question raised in the previous session: whether the incident was classified as “rape” or “gang-rape.”
During the first day of this new hearing on March 24, Justice Ghosh instructed the CBI to provide clarity regarding its stance on the “rape versus gang-rape” issue. Additionally, the court sought to understand if the CBI’s second investigation focused solely on “evidence tampering and alteration” or if there were other suspects involved in the crime, besides the already convicted civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy.
Recently, a special court in Kolkata found Sanjay Roy guilty of rape and murder, sentencing him to life imprisonment. However, the CBI has filed an appeal with the Calcutta High Court against this ruling, seeking a harsher sentence.
On March 24, the West Bengal government’s counsel, Kalyan Banerjee, expressed a “tactically balanced stand.” He indicated that the state government did not oppose a fresh investigation but raised concerns about the legal validity of such an inquiry after a conviction had already been secured in the special court.
Following the Supreme Court’s recent allowance for parallel hearings in the case, the victim’s parents presented a new petition to Justice Ghosh. Initially, Justice Ghosh had been hesitant to hear the case, given its ongoing proceedings in the Supreme Court, but this situation has now changed.
The tragic case began when the body of a junior woman doctor was discovered on August 9 of last year, in a seminar hall at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. The initial investigation was conducted by a special team from the Kolkata Police, which resulted in the arrest of the sole convict, Sanjay Roy, before the case was transferred to the CBI by an order from the Calcutta High Court.