Amid the protests over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at state-run R G Kar Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Sunday asked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to convene an “emergency” Cabinet meeting “to address public grievances” and consider the demand for the removal of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal.

The protesting junior doctors have been seeking the removal of Goyal, alleging that Kolkata Police tried to cover up the rape-murder case since the onset of the probe on August 9.

“The Governor, in a communication to the chief minister, asked her to immediately call an emergency Cabinet meeting and discuss the R G Kar Medical College incident and the subsequent vandalism in the hospital on the night of August 14,” a Raj Bhavan official said.

“The Governor has asked the chief minister to seriously consider the demands made by the protesters, including the junior doctors. These include the removal of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal… The Governor stated that the state government should work within the Constitution and law to address the public demands,” the official added.

Governor Bose, who has been at loggerheads with the TMC government in the state, had recently said that the Aparajita Bill on giving stringent punishment in rape cases was “passed in a hurry”.

After referring the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill, passed by the Assembly in the wake of the RG Kar rape-murder incident, to President Droupadi Murmu, the Raj Bhavan said: “The Governor has pointed out the omissions and commissions in the hurriedly passed (Aparajita) Bill. He warned the government not to act in haste and repent at leisure,” the Raj Bhavan had stated on September 6.

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