"Catastrophic Breakdown Of Institutional Responsibility": Lawyer Moves Calcutta High Court Seeking CBI Probe Into South Calcutta Law College Gang-Rape

The incident, which allegedly occurred on the night of June 25, 2025, has triggered widespread outrage. The petition seeks urgent intervention, including a court-monitored CBI investigation and systemic reforms to address what he calls a “collapse of campus security, suppression of protests, and breakdown of rule of law.”

The matter came up before a Division Bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das De, which issued notice and listed it for hearing on July 3, 2025.

The petitioner describes the act as more than an isolated crime, characterising it as "a catastrophic breakdown of institutional responsibility, campus safety protocols, and governmental oversight, amounting to a complete abdication of the constitutional duty to protect the dignity, liberty, and bodily autonomy of its students.”

He further alleges that the victim had earlier been subjected to coercion and intimidation. According to the petition, “The victim had allegedly been subjected to persistent coercion and intimidation by the accused persons, who had pressurized her to align herself with certain politically affiliated groups operating within the college. Upon her firm refusal to join such politically motivated activities, the accused persons issued threats of grievous harm, including threats to kill her and have her parents falsely implicated and arrested.” These threats, the petition states, were made with impunity and reportedly ignored by the college administration and local authorities.

The petitioner contends, “Shockingly, despite the existence of such hostility, intimidation, and prior complaints, both the college administration and local police authorities remained willfully indifferent and took no preventive or protective measures whatsoever.” He submits that “this culpable inaction effectively emboldened the perpetrators and allowed the assault to unfold unchecked, thereby constituting not only institutional negligence but also a direct violation of the victim’s fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”

The petition frames the incident as emblematic of deeper institutional failures. It raises several questions for judicial scrutiny: “How was a former student permitted entry into the college premises after hours, in clear violation of basic access control protocols? Why were staff members present on campus long past official college hours, without any official purpose or administrative supervision? What monitoring or security measures, if any, were in place to prevent or detect unauthorized access to sensitive areas of the college building? Why did the college administration and local police take no preventive action, despite having been allegedly informed of threats made against the victim well in advance? Why does a reputed law college lack essential surveillance infrastructure, such as CCTV coverage and a functioning security apparatus, especially in a time where gender-based violence is on the rise?”

On the alleged politicisation of the institution, the petitioner notes that the mere fact that such individuals may have close acquaintance or political patronage from members of the ruling establishment does not, and ought not to, ipso facto grant them any form of privilege or impunity. “Educational institutions are not political playgrounds, and any such unwarranted influence must be sternly curtailed in the interest of campus safety and constitutional governance”, the petition states.

The petition also alleges the suppression of peaceful protests in the aftermath of the incident, stating, “The right to protest is a fundamental right of every citizen,” the petitioner submits, “yet this right was trampled by the respondent authorities when they barred protestors from entering South Calcutta Law College. The protestors were manhandled by police, an action that is intolerable in any civil society.” He further states that protestors, including female students, were reportedly manhandled, detained, and silenced in a manner wholly incompatible with the tenets of a democratic society governed by the rule of law. Rather than protecting demonstrators, the petition alleges, “The police authorities willfully allowed external miscreants to infiltrate and disrupt the protest,” which he describes as a “gross miscarriage of justice” that resulted in “a chilling effect on the exercise of democratic rights.”

Among the key prayers, the PIL seeks a writ of mandamus directing a proper investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, along with the formation of a judicially-monitored Fact-Finding Committee, headed preferably by a retired Judge of the Calcutta Court, to examine systemic issues within law colleges vis-à-vis gender safety and political exploitation. It also calls for orders banning ex-students from entering college premises after hours and mandating the implementation of Internal Complaints Committees under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and UGC Guidelines.

The petition concludes with, “If this Hon’ble Court does not intervene immediately, vital evidence may be destroyed, witnesses may be silenced, and public confidence in the justice system will be severely eroded.”

The matter will be heard next on July 3, 2025.