R.G. Kar case: SC to hear suo motu plea on 1 October

The Supreme Court on Monday, 23 September said it will hear on 1 October a case it has initiated on its own following the rape and murder of a resident doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata amid the ongoing protests by doctors in West Bengal.

At the outset of the day’s proceedings, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala was urged by a counsel appearing for one of the parties that the suo motu case, which is listed for hearing on 27 September, be heard next week due to some urgent reasons.

"We will list it on hearing on next Tuesday that is 1 October," the CJI said.

The top court, on 17 September, said it was disturbed by the findings given in a status report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the rape and murder case but refused to divulge the details.

It had said any disclosure may jeopardise the ongoing investigation.

It had also sought a status report from the CBI on its probe into financial irregularities allegedly committed by jailed former principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh.

It also said the CBI was not "sleeping over" the investigation and it needs to be given time to "unearth the truth."

"What the CBI has revealed in the report is really disturbing. What you are flagging is of utmost concern. We ourselves are concerned, the CBI has flagged it for us. We are ourselves disturbed by what we have read," the top court had told a lawyer who claimed discrepancies in the seizure list and sketch of the crime scene.

It had asked the protesting junior doctors in West Bengal to resume work and recorded the assurance from the state government that it will not take any adverse or punitive action against them.

Taking note of a letter written by the father of the deceased, the top court had directed that the "valuable" inputs furnished by him should be duly considered by the investigating officer.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, had assured the court that the investigating agency will maintain contact with the parents of the deceased junior doctor and keep them informed about the ongoing probe to assuage their genuine concerns.

The medic's body with severe injury marks was found on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the case the following day.

On 13 August, the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the probe from the Kolkata Police to the CBI, which started its investigation on 14 August.