Supreme Court Transfers Suo Motu Case Of Rape And Murder Of Doctor At RG Kar Medical College To Calcutta High Court

The Supreme Court, today, has transferred the suo motu case on the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, to the Calcutta High Court.

A Bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma ordered, "We deem it appropriate to refer the matter to the division bench of the Calcutta High Court. We request the Chief Justice to refer the matter to the appropriate bench. We request the Registry to transfer all the matters to the Calcutta High Court. The registry is directed to give the status report to the father of the victim.”

Senior Advocate Karuna Nandy appeared on behalf of the doctors, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Union of India.

Justice MM Sundresh said, "Last time we had said that we will refer the matter to the High Court."

SG Mehta submitted, "There are two issues, one is the investigation and the prosecution, ultimately...It can be heard by the High Court."

Justice Sundresh remarked, "It’s better for the high court to monitor and see things."

Nandy said, "This court had constituted a National Task Force recognising that a national consensus must evolved after due consultation with stakeholders on the urgent need to issue protocols governing the issues which this order has highlighted...I am representing the doctors of West Bengal...I understand milords are short of time."

Justice Sharma replied,"No, we are not short of time. This matter can be looked into by a constitutional court in West Bengal. We are hearing 10 to 5 every day; we are not short of time. And we give the patient hearings also. So dont repeat, we are short of time."

Nandy said, "There is effectively only one hearing remains to wrap this matter."

Justice Sharma said, "No that is not required, Calcutta High Court will look into everything...and the parents' petition is already pending before the Calcutta High Court."

Nandy submitted, "There is just one application. There was a status report filed by the CBI in this court...that raised various questions regarding the involvement of others."

Justice Sharma remarked, "But why there should be parallel proceedings?"

Nandy then requested the Court to provide a copy of the status report to be given to the parents, to which the Solicitor General agreed.

Background

The body of the postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the hospital's seminar room on August 9 last year. The Kolkata Police arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, the next day.

On January 20, a Kolkata trial court awarded convict Roy "life term imprisonment till death" in the case. The crime triggered nationwide outrage and prolonged protests in West Bengal.

The apex court, even after the primary conviction, is monitoring multiple ancillary issues, including regularising the unauthorised absence of doctors. The Supreme Court had asked the State of West Bengal on the status of work on the installation of CCTV cameras, construction of toilets and separate resting rooms, etc., in the medical college.

While taking suo motu notice of the case, the bench constituted a National Task Force (NTF) on August 20 last year to formulate a protocol to ensure the safety and security of medical professionals in the wake of the crime.

Pertinently, on September 17, the Bench had asked the Health Secretary to tell the Court what modalities are followed to ensure that security steps are taken at the hospital. On September 9, the Court had directed the State of West Bengal to show the challan form (WB Form 5371) indicating the details of the dispatch of the body for postmortem in the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, on August 9, 2024.

Earlier, on September 3, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had filed an application before the Apex Court stating that Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel do not have proper accommodation and basic facilities in West Bengal. "Due to non-availability of accommodations, security gadgets, and paucity of transportation, duty personnel are facing a lot of difficulties in performing duties coming from various locations, especially the lady contingent," the MHA stated. The MHA had further stated that the matter of lack of any accommodation, including separate accommodation for female personnel, shortage of transport, logistics, and inadequate security infrastructure/gadgets, etc., was taken up with the Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal.

However, the MHA has stated that they got no response from the state government. "This non-cooperation is not expected from a State government in a tense situation such as the present one. The safety of doctors, and women doctors in particular, must be the top priority for the State of West Bengal," the MHA had said. Terming the inaction of the State of West Bengal as "symptomatic of a systematic malaise", the MHA had said that despite repeated requests, there is non-cooperation with central agencies operating under court orders.

On August 22, the Court urged the doctors to return back to work following the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, on August 9, 2024. During the pre-lunch session, the Court had expressed concern about the manner in which the West Bengal police have handled the case so far. "The entire procedure that has been followed by the State Police is something that I have not come across in my 30 years of career," Justice Pardiwala remarked.

Earlier, the Court had also expressed disappointment over the State of West Bengal's handling of the vandalism at the protest site. The Court had directed the formation of a "National Task Force" to recommend measures for ensuring the safety of medical professionals. Additionally, the Court ordered the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to protect resident doctors, particularly female doctors, at RG Kar Hospital.

The Court had also expressed concerns about the lack of institutional safety norms at medical establishments against both violence and sexual violence.

It is to be noted that on August 20, the Apex Court, in a petition filed by two practising lawyers, directed the immediate removal of all social media content, including references to the name, photos, and videos of the trainee doctor who was tragically raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata. On the same day, in related news, the Calcutta High Court had allowed the holding of ‘Abasthan’ in protest against the doctor’s rape and murder on August 9 at RG Kar Hospital in Calcutta.

Advocate Ujjawal Gaur, a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India seeking immediate intervention in the rape and murder case of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata.

Recently, the Calcutta High Court had directed the transfer of the investigation in the case from the Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. The Court was dealing with a batch of writ petitions filed as public interest litigations (PILs), in which the common prayer was to direct the state police authorities to immediately hand over all documents and evidence pertaining to the criminal proceedings initiated by them to the CBI or any other independent investigating agency. Earlier, the High Court had questioned the state government over the urgency to carry out renovation work near the crime scene. The Court also grilled the State on the timing of the renovation, asking why it was necessary to undertake such work immediately after the incident. The State's counsel submitted that the renovation was unrelated to the crime scene, explaining that the work was for a new restroom for doctors. The Bench ordered the State to provide a detailed reply on the various aspects of the case by August 20 and scheduled the next hearing for August 21.

Cause Title: In Re: Alleged Rape and Murder Incident of a Trainee Doctor in R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata and Related Issues [SMW (Crl) No. 000002/2024]