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Seeking 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, the top court, referring to the rape and murder case, said the agency is 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, CBI has flagged it for us. We are ourselves disturbed by what we have read,” the top court told a lawyer who claimed discrepancies in the seizure list and sketch of the crime scene.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also 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.
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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, 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.
As the hearing commenced, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, sought stopping of the live proceedings in the case. He alleged that women lawyers working in his chamber were facing threats of acid attacks and rape.
“I have great concerns at what is happening. What happens when you livestream matters like this which has huge emotive implications. We are not representing the accused. We appear for the state government and as soon as the court is making a comment our reputation is getting destroyed overnight. We have 50 years of reputation,” Sibal said.
The top court assured Sibal it would step in if there were any threats to lawyers and others.
“We will not stop the live streaming of the proceedings. It is in public interest,” the bench said.
During the hearing, the apex court took objection to the West Bengal government’s ‘Rattierer Saathi’ programme which prescribes night duty avoidance for women doctors and says that their duty should not exceed 12 hours at a time.
“The West Bengal government should correct the notification. Your duty is to provide security, you cannot say that women (doctors) cannot work at night. Pilots, the army etc all work at night. This will prejudice their (doctors) careers. The hours of duty should be reasonable for all doctors,” the bench said.
After the top court’s objection, the West Bengal government told the bench that it would withdraw the notification.
The top court also questioned the West Bengal government’s decision to hire contractual employees for the protection of doctors and other staff in hospitals.
“We are in a situation where there is a lack of security for doctors. The state government should have at least deployed police in government hospitals. We are dealing with young interns and students who are coming to Kolkata for work,” the bench said.
Senior lawyer Indira Jaising said junior doctors know the people who were at the scene of the crime and the information shall be shared with the CBI in a sealed cover.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, submitted that Wikipedia was still showing the name and photo of the victim. The top court then directed Wikipedia to remove all content that identified the victim.
“In the interest of maintaining the dignity and privacy of the deceased, the governing principle is that the identity of the victim in a rape and murder case shall not be disclosed. Wikipedia shall take steps to comply with the previous order passed,” the bench said.
The top court also said that nobody can claim that the CBI destroyed anything related to the crime, the scene, or the 27 minutes of CCTV camera footage.
West Bengal police told the court that nothing related to the crime, including the CCTV footage, remains with them and everything has been handed over to the CBI.
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 August 13, the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the probe from the Kolkata Police to the CBI, which started its investigation on August 14.