New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday said details given by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in its status report on the rape-murder of an on-duty trainee doctor at Kolkata’s state-run R.G. Kar Hospital, were “disturbing” in nature.
Hearing a case initiated by itself, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said disclosing the CBI’s work would hamper the course of investigation. “… the line of further investigation being carried out by the CBI is intended to unearth the absolute truth and anything further that may emerge.”
The Kolkata police had arrested hospital volunteer Sanjay Roy on 10 August—following the discovery of the girl’s body the day before—and charged him with rape. As protests grew over the perceived laxity in the police probe, the Calcutta High Court handed the case to the CBI on 13 August.
The probe agency picked up former R.G. Kar principal Dr Sandip Ghosh for suspected graft as it investigated the goings-on at the state-run hospital. Ghosh had been in judicial custody when the agency arrested him Saturday for tampering with evidence in the rape and murder case. The CBI also arrested Abhijit Mondal, officer in charge of Tala police station, for failing to protect the crime scene.
The bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, took note of these arrests.
What court said about CBI status report
The apex court said the CBI had addressed several issues in the status report, including whether a challan was submitted in a statutory form for the postmortem, whether the crime scene had been tampered with, or if there was complicity of others in destroying evidence.
The court observed, “It would be unwise for us to disclose anything further.” Notably, several minutes of Tuesday’s hearing were muted.
A challan is “is a form that is filled and sent with the body when it is handed over to forensic examination,” CJI Chandrachud had said in the last hearing on 9 September. He had emphasised the importance of the document, adding it included a column on what clothes and articles were sent along with the body.
“We want to see that,” the CJI had asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the West Bengal government.
On Tuesday, the court directed the CBI to also consider inputs given by the victim’s father on 12 September. The bench said: “We are of the view that inputs given by the father should be taken note of by the CBI. The SG (Solicitor General) has assured us the CBI shall maintain contact with the parents and assuage genuine concerns about the status of the investigation.”
During the hearing, Sibal also submitted that live-streaming of the hearing of the R.G. Kar case had emotive implications, adding some of his women colleagues had received threats after the last few hearings. However, the court assured him that it would step in if such a threat was made to any member of the bar.
Take down victim’s name, SC tells Wikipedia
The court directed Wikipedia to take down all references to the RG Kar victim’s photo and name after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta drew its attention to an image on the web encylopedia’s page. Other lawyers informed the court that one of the hyperlinks on the said page took them straight to an article disclosing details about her identity.
The apex court also made it clear it could not direct the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resign, while asserting that no penal action would be taken against doctors and medical professionals returning to work following their strike to protest the crime.
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Confidence-building measures
The court also noted several confidence-building measures taken by West Bengal so that doctors could safely return to work. According to the affidavit of the health department, certain steps had been taken, such as the installation of toilet facilities and CCTV cameras in government medical colleges.
“Apart from the existing facilities, sanction has been granted for setting up additional CCTVs and rest rooms,” the court said in its order. It also emphasised that the state government followed a “participative process” to facilitate this.
The top court recorded the state’s assurance that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure biometric facilities, especially in duty rooms and resting areas of doctors, so that unauthorised persons could not enter.
The apex court, however, criticised the West Bengal government over its “Rattirer Sathi” (Night Companion) scheme, set up last week to address safety concerns of women in workplaces, including hospitals. The scheme restricted working hours of women to 12 hours at a time, urging employers to avoid night duty for women. Responding to this, the court said women had night shifts as pilots, doctors, and otherwise. It added, “Hours of duty should be reasonable for all doctors. Do not subject them to conditions that don’t apply to their male counterparts.”
Mamata concedes to medics’ demands
Junior doctors have been on a warpath with the state government ever since the 31-year-old on-duty trainee doctor’s body was discovered in an empty seminar room at R.G. Kar in the early hours of 9 August. The heinous crime also triggered massive protests in Bengal, which then spilled over to other states.
The agitating doctors finally came to the negotiating table Monday evening to meet the chief minister, after a difference of opinion over live-steaming the discussions scuttled two previous attempts. The doctors demanded the discussion be telecast as it would bring “transparency”. It was finally agreed that minutes of the meeting would be immediately written down and both parties would sign on the document.
The first demand of the junior doctors’ forum (WBJDF) was justice for the 31-year-old trainee doctor, whose death triggered a nationwide outcry. The state said the matter was already with the CBI and that it would “provide all necessary assistance as required for expediting the completion of the enquiry and justice to the deceased”.
The government ceded to their other demands, transferring the Kolkata commissioner of police and the deputy commissioner (north), who was in charge of the area where R.G. Kar is located. It also removed the director of health services and director of medical education, as asked by the students.
The government further sanctioned Rs 100 crore for hospital infrastructure like CCTV and toilets etc, and promised to set up a task force to monitor safety of doctors in hospitals.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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