Kolkata, May 21: The Kolkata High Court’s division bench has ordered a fresh investigation into the RG Kar rape and murder case by a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). This SIT will be led by an officer of the rank of Joint Director from the CBI.
Justices Shampa Sarkar and Tirthankar Ghosh issued this directive on Thursday afternoon after hearing requests from the victim’s family for a re-investigation. The court acknowledged that the family’s demand for a new inquiry was justified.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for June 24. The court has instructed the CBI to present a progress report on the investigation by the next date.
Notably, the body of a female junior doctor was discovered on the morning of August 9, 2024, in a seminar room at the government RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The doctor was allegedly raped and murdered.
Initially, the Kolkata Police’s SIT investigated the case, during which a former civic volunteer linked to the city police, Sanjay Roy, was arrested.
Later, under the High Court’s directive, the CBI took over the investigation and identified Sanjay Roy as the main accused in the rape and murder.
Subsequently, the trial court convicted Sanjay Roy and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, the CBI challenged this decision in the Kolkata High Court, seeking the death penalty for the accused.
The victim’s family expressed dissatisfaction with the CBI’s investigation. They alleged that the CBI conducted the inquiry carelessly and merely advanced the initial findings of the Kolkata Police.
Initially, the case was being heard by a division bench comprising Justices Rajshekhar Mantha and Rai Chattopadhyay. However, that bench recused itself from the case, leading to its reassignment to Justices Shampa Sarkar and Tirthankar Ghosh.
Thursday marked the second hearing before the new bench, after which the court ordered the CBI to conduct a fresh investigation.
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