Hearing a plea by Akhtar Ali, former deputy superintendent of R G Kar hospital, the HC directed the CBI to take over the probe by 10 am on Saturday.
After the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee woman doctor at the hospital, Ali had moved the Calcutta HC seeking a probe by the ED into corruption charges against Sandip Ghosh, former principal of the hospital, who was twice transferred over allegations of corruption but was reinstated.
A single-judge bench of Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj on Friday ordered the state administration to hand over all documents of the case to the CBI by Saturday. The CBI has been directed to submit a report about the probe after three weeks and the HC will hear the case again on September 17.
Ghosh, an orthopaedics professor, took charge as the principal of R G Kar hospital in mid-2021, after being promoted from his previous position at Calcutta National Medical College (CNMC).
On July 14 last year, Ali wrote a complaint letter to the state vigilance commission against Ghosh and two others. The letter highlighted issues and alleged squandering of government money, illegal giving out of assets of the government without prior nod, quotation amounts of crores of rupees being given out to a few ineligible bidders, evasion of financial rules etc. It also accused Ghosh of serious irregularities including “illegal selling of used hazardous biomedical waste through his additional security personnel” and “misuse of Covid funds for creation of a gym”, among others.
Opposition parties in West Bengal have alleged a “nexus” between Ghosh, TMC leaders and government officials. TMC leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen had also sought that the CBI should investigate Ghosh.
Ghosh’s conduct came under the scanner again after the rape and murder of the R G Kar doctor on August 9. After junior doctors demanded that he should be removed from his post, he was transferred to the CNMC. After he faced student protests there too, the HC ordered him to go on leave. He was later transferred to the health department as an officer on special duty. After taking over the investigation into the doctor’s rape-murder case, the CBI has questioned Ghosh over six days.
The HC said: “This court shall refrain from delving into the substantive merits of the case. Nonetheless, a significant issue persists regarding the appropriate investigative authority, specifically whether the inquiry should remain under the purview of the SIT or be transferred to the CBI’s jurisdiction… the probe should not be fragmented between agencies. Handing over the investigation to the CBI ensures consistency.”
The SIT is directed to hand over the case diary, other records, CCTV footage, statements, if any, and all material and matters concerning the case to the CBI by 10 am on Saturday. Any other “information, which is relevant to the case as may be called for by the CBI, shall be provided by the SIT”, it said.
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