ED Receives Approval to Charge Former RG Kar Medical College Principal Sandeep Ghosh

Mumbai, July 1: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has received approval from the West Bengal government to initiate charges against Sandeep Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College, in a case involving financial irregularities amounting to millions.

The process to file charges against Ghosh had been stalled for a long time under the previous government led by the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee. However, following the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that all obstacles to a swift investigation and justice in the RG Kar financial irregularities case, as well as a separate case involving the rape and murder of a female junior doctor at the same hospital in August 2014, would be removed.

The hearing process regarding the financial irregularities case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) had been pending for an extended period due to the previous government’s refusal to allow charges against Ghosh. Now, with the obstacles cleared, the hearing process against him will resume.

The ED informed the special PMLA court that the West Bengal government has granted permission to initiate the process of filing charges against Ghosh. He was previously arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), after which the ED took cognizance and entered the investigation.

In its initial charge sheet, the ED identified Ghosh as one of the main accused in the financial irregularities case. However, charges had not been filed against him until now.

According to regulations, if a significant official in the state is to be implicated, the state government’s approval is necessary to file a charge sheet and proceed with prosecution. Approval from the state health department was required for Ghosh, which had been withheld for an extended period during the previous administration.

In addition to Ghosh, the ED’s charge sheet also names two media contractors, Biplab Sinha and Suman Hazra, as accused in this case. This is the first charge sheet filed by the ED in this matter.

Meanwhile, the CBI has also filed a charge sheet in this case.