Zania-Editor
Senior TMC leader Derek O’Brien has questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about the progress of the charge sheet in the RG Kar rape and murder case. On Friday, O’Brien took to X to ask, “When is CBI filing a charge-sheet in the RG Kar hospital rape and murder case and putting the accused on trial?”
The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor, whose body was discovered in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata on August 9. The incident led to nationwide protests calling for justice for the victim.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has recently been pressing for the CBI to expedite the charge sheet. The Calcutta High Court had transferred the investigation from the Kolkata Police to the CBI in August. The primary suspect, a civic volunteer, was arrested on the day of the incident.
On the same day, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition from Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College. Ghosh challenged the Calcutta High Court’s decision to order a CBI investigation into alleged corruption during his tenure, claiming he had not been given a fair hearing. The Supreme Court’s refusal leaves the High Court’s CBI probe order intact.
On August 23, Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj of the Calcutta High Court instructed the CBI to investigate alleged financial irregularities at the hospital under Ghosh’s administration. The decision followed a petition from Akhtar Ali, a whistleblower and former deputy medical superintendent at RG Kar. The investigation is to be monitored by the court.
Ghosh’s appeal against this ruling was initially directed to a division bench of the High Court, which included Justices Harish Tandon and Hiranmay Bhattacharya. He sought an expedited hearing but was told to first obtain a copy of the single-judge bench’s order. Instead of following this procedure, Ghosh went directly to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
On August 25, the CBI conducted raids at several locations in Kolkata, including Ghosh’s residence, as part of their investigation. By September 2, the CBI’s economic offence wing had detained Ghosh and three others. The following day, a special court in Kolkata remanded the four suspects, including Ghosh, to CBI custody for eight days. The charges against Ghosh include awarding contracts improperly, using private entities for infrastructure work instead of the state public works department, and mishandling biomedical waste and organs from unidentified bodies.
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