Kolkata hospital horror: RG Kar ex-principal Sandip Ghosh links crime and corruption investigations
Times of India | 16 September 2024
Sandip Ghosh KOLKATA: The former R G Kar principal Sandip Ghosh is, as of now, the only common link between the two CBI probes of financial corruption and rape-murder of the young PGT and according to legal professionals, Ghosh’s problems have only mounted after him being tagged in the original rape and murder case.
The CBI on Saturday officially arrested Ghosh in the rape and murder of the 31-year-old PGT doctor at the hospital on Aug 9 and booked him under BNS sections dealing with evidence tampering, criminal conspiracy and disobeying directions under law.Former Tala PS OC Abhijit Mondal was also arrested on Saturday with the same charges. The arrests are the first by the agency and come 35 days after civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was arrested by Kolkata Police a day after the crime and charged with rape and murder.
Ghosh had already been arrested by CBI in connection with financial irregularities at the hospital and was in judicial custody. But a section of protesting junior doctors as well as parents of the victim had time and again demanded CBI to probe Ghosh’s role in the rape-murder.
“Why had the hospital initially tried to pass on the incident as a suicide? Why the authorities didn’t lodge a cop complaint themselves and why were we asked to visit the principal’s office on multiple occasions when we had visited the hospital on the day of my daughter’s murder?,” the victim’s father had said.
In fact, the Supreme Court too had refused to entertain a challenge raised by Ghosh against a Calcutta High Court order that had linked the corruption charges against him to the original incident of rape and murder at the hospital. He had challenged the HC transferring the probe from the SIT to the CBI, claiming it was transferred without giving him an opportunity to be heard.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud questioned Ghosh’s locus standi to challenge the transfer of the probe to another agency. “An accused has no locus standi to intervene when the HC is monitoring the investigation and has transferred it to the CBI,” the CJI had addressed senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for Ghosh.
After the fresh arrest, the agency again took him into custody as lawyers said Ghosh’s worries have only mounted after his arrest in the case for criminal conspiracy. Although a parasitic section, it can amount to huge trouble as the original complaint is of a heinous crime of rape and murder and if found guilty, he can be behind bars for a longer period than he would have in a corruption case.
“The fresh sections imposed by the CBI in Ghosh’s case are very important. If those sections can be proven and probed properly, the case can take a turn,” said advocate Niladri Bhattacharjee, adding that whether the sections are bailable does not matter in this case as the consequences, if the charge is proven, will be dire.
According to lawyer Sabyasachi Chatterjee, probe into tampering of evidence is “an essential part of the crime which needs to be investigated as all evidence has been wiped away”.
However, lawyer Milon Mukherjee said imposing sections dealing with criminal conspiracy against Sandip Ghosh is a “waste”. “It will be difficult for CBI to establish that Sandip is a conspirator as they will have to show that he has some connection with Sanjay prior to the commission of offence.”