The RG Kar junior doctor murder case is back in the spotlight. After a change in government, the Calcutta High Court has given a fresh set of directions to the CBI. What did the court order in the rape and murder case?
The Calcutta High Court has made a big move in the RG Kar case. The division bench of Justice Shampa Sarkar and Justice Tirthankar Ghosh has ordered the CBI to form a new three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) within 48 hours. A CBI Joint Director will head this team. The court has clearly instructed the SIT to revisit the crime scene, speak with the victim's family, and re-examine all documents and findings from the investigation so far.
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Order to form a new SIT
The court has ordered the new SIT to investigate the entire sequence of events, right from the night of the crime until the victim's last rites. The court said it gave this direction considering the nature of the crime and its social importance. The next hearing in this case is scheduled for Wednesday, June 24. The division bench has also directed the CBI to submit a progress report on that day.
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What did the Calcutta High Court instruct the CBI?
The Calcutta High Court's division bench, with Justice Shampa Sarkar and Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, had earlier told the CBI to seal the entire crime scene. This included the chamber of former principal Sandip Ghosh. But the CBI only sealed the seminar hall. During a hearing on Tuesday, the judges pulled up the agency and repeated their order to seal all connected locations at RG Kar hospital immediately.
The victim's family had approached the court because they were unhappy with the slow pace of the CBI's investigation into the doctor's rape and murder. They also requested permission to visit the crime scene at RG Kar Hospital. Interestingly, three different benches of the Calcutta High Court had previously recused themselves from hearing the case. Finally, Chief Justice Sujoy Paul assigned the case to a new division bench of Justice Shampa Sarkar and Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, who then ordered the new SIT probe.
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RG Kar case file reopened
After the BJP government came to power, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari ordered the RG Kar case file to be reopened. He also suspended the then Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, DC Central Indira Mukherjee, and DC North Abhishek Gupta. Investigators will now look into whether these officers had received any instructions via messages or phone calls from the former chief minister or any other ministers from the previous government.
