NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Wednesday
cited paucity of time and deferred to January 29 the hearing on the suo-motu
case over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical
College and Hospital in Kolkata.
On January 20, a Kolkata trial court awarded convict
Sanjay Roy "life term imprisonment till death" in the case.
The suo-motu (on its own) plea was set to be heard by the
top court for the first time after the sentencing in the doctor's rape and
murder which took place on August 9 last year.
The heinous crime triggered nationwide outrage and
prolonged protests in West Bengal.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and
Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan on Wednesday said there was paucity
of time, and moreover, three fresh applications were filed in the case.
"We will take it up at 2 pm on next Wednesday,"
the CJI said.
Senior advocate Karuna Nandy, representing the
Association of Junior and Senior Doctors, mentioned the plea for hearing.
On December 10 last year, the top court took note of the
CBI’s latest status report and expressed confidence that the trial in the case
was likely to conclude within in a month.
The CBI had informed about the day-to-day -- Monday to
Thursday -- trial at a special CBI Court in Sealdah.
The bench had also directed the parties to share their
recommendations and suggestions on preventing gender-based violence and
developing safety protocols for doctors and medical staff at hospitals across
the nation with the court-appointed national task force (NTF).
The bench directed the NTF to file a report and said,
"All recommendations and suggestions be sent to the National Task force
and a reply be filed by the states and UTs (union territories) to the last
report of the NTF."
The body of the post-graduate trainee doctor was found in
the hospital's seminar room on August 9, last year following which the Kolkata
police arrested civic volunteer Roy the next day in connection with the crime.
While taking a suo motu notice of the case, the bench
constituted the NTF on August 20 to formulate a protocol to ensure safety and
security of medical professionals in the wake of the crime.
In November last year, the NTF in its report -- part of
the Central government's affidavit -- said a separate central law to deal with
offences against health care professionals was not required.
The panel said the state laws had adequate provisions to
address minor offences besides serious ones under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,
2023.
In a slew of recommendations, the NTF said 24 states had
enacted laws to address violence against health care professionals while
defining the terms "health care institutions" and "medical
professionals".
The bench then said the case would be next heard in the
week commencing March 17, 2025, but said the parties could seek an early
hearing if the rape and murder case trial was delayed or an urgency.
Initially investigated by the Kolkata police, the case
was transferred to the CBI on August 13 after the Calcutta High Court expressed
dissatisfaction over the former's investigation.
The top court subsequently assumed oversight of the
matter on August 19, 2024.
Roy was chargesheeted by CBI in October last year.
Kolkata medic's
rape-murder case: CBI to seek death sentence in HC for Sanjay Roy
The CBI will file an appeal before the Calcutta High
Court, seeking death sentence for Sanjay Roy, who was sentenced to "life
imprisonment until death" by a Sealdah court in the rape-cum-murder case
of an on-duty doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, officials said
Wednesday.
The agency received a legal advice suggesting that the
case may be categorised as the "rarest of rare", deserving capital
punishment, they said.
The agency is likely to file the appeal against the
Sealdah court order as soon as possible with detailed arguments in favour of
capital punishment, they said.
The agency's plea seeking death penalty for Roy was
turned down by the trial court, where Additional District and Sessions Judge
Anirban Das said that the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the
rare" category.
"The CBI prayed for the death penalty. The defence
lawyer prayed that a jail term be given instead of the death penalty. This
crime does not fall under the 'rarest of the rare' category," the judge
said on Monday while sentencing Roy.
"I am sentencing you to life imprisonment, meaning
till the last day of your life, for causing injury during the act of committing
rape on the victim that led to her death...," he told Roy.
The West Bengal government has already approached the
high court, challenging the verdict and seeking death penalty for Roy.
The CBI has opposed the state's right to file an appeal
in the case, claiming that as it was the prosecuting agency, it had the right
to appeal on the grounds of inadequacy of the sentence.
Appearing for the CBI, Deputy Solicitor General Rajdeep
Majumdar on Wednesday opposed the state's submission, maintaining that the West
Bengal government does not have the right to appeal against the trial court's
order on the ground of inadequacy.
He submitted that the CBI had prayed for awarding capital
punishment to Roy before the trial court.
The high court said it would hear the CBI, the victim's
family and the convict before deciding on the admission of the state
government's appeal. The high court said it will hear the matter on January 27.
The trainee doctor was raped and killed in the early
hours of August 9 in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital
when she had gone to have rest during her graveyard shift.
Her body with severe injury marks was found inside the
hall by a doctor next morning.
Civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was arrested the next day
based on CCTV footage in which he was seen entering the seminar hall at 4.03 am
on the day of the incident.
On August 13, the Calcutta High Court ordered the
transfer of the probe from Kolkata Police to the CBI, which took over the case
on August 14.
