In a scathing criticism of the initial probe by Kolkata Police into the rape and murder of a junior doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, the trial court in its judgment said the police treated the case in an “indifferent manner” from the very beginning.
In the 172-page judgment, Additional Sessions Judge Anirban Das of the Sealdah court also criticised the hospital authorities over the “suicide theory”, saying it was floated to save itself from questions, and their actions in the wake of the incident seemed to cast a doubt that they wanted to suppress something.
On the police probe, especially by the local Tala Police Station, the judge said that Sub-Inspector Subrata Chatterjee’s witness statement showed that he had done an illegal act by making an ante-dated entry in the General Diary (GD) on August 9, 2024 — the day the junior doctor was found dead at the seminar hall of the RG Kar hospital. The said GD entry about the doctor’s death, supposedly made by the S-I, had a time stamp of 10.10 am, whereas the police officer was not even at the police station at the time, the court said.
“This evidence of one S-I is an eye opener that police stations are treating the cases in a very indifferent manner. It is also shocking that the concerned S-I did not hesitate to say such illegal acts standing in the witness box. I did not expect such type of evidence from an officer in the rank of S-I of police. It shows how they have entertained the issue even when the case became a sensitive one… It was his evidence that he was instructed to do so (making ante-dated entry), but he did not mention the names of anyone by whom he was instructed to do such an illegal act,” the court said.
“It is very hard to believe that an officer in the rank of S-I was unaware about the implication of such illegal acts and before the court he proudly established his illegal acts again.Being the court of law, I condemn such acts of S-I Subrata Chatterjee,” the order read.
Judge Das also questioned the police for the delay in filing the complaint by the woman’s parents. “It is not clear to me why at that time, the parents of the victim were not allowed/advised to lodge a complaint and why the police authority kept the parents of the victim to wait till 6.00 pm (August 9, 2024) to lodge the complaint. It is not understandable to me why the police personnel of Tala Police Station (PS) kept everything behind a curtain and why such type of illegal acts were done by the concerned officer of Tala PS.”
Directing Kolkata Police Commissioner to act strictly against such illegal and indifferent acts by police officers, the order said: “As the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata is the highest administrative authority of Kolkata Police, I think that this type of illegal/indifferent acts of the police personnel should be tackled by him in a very strict way so that no one can be escaped and I also think that proper training be given to the officers regarding investigation especially in the cases where it rests upon circumstantial /electronic and scientific evidence.”
“On perusal of the evidence, I am of the view that if the officers of Tala PS would take proper initiative by applying their intellect at the very first time, the matter would not become so complicated. I am sorry to comment that the officers of Tala PS showed a very indifferent attitude from the very inception. The point whether the merit of the case will suffer for the defective investigation, is one of the vital issues of this case,” it added.
In his judgment, Judge Das also noted the lapses on the part of the hospital authorities and the then principal Sandip Ghosh, saying the acts of the administrative head of the RG Kar hospital “creates a shadow of doubt, and it seems that they wanted to suppress anything and that there was dereliction of duty on their part”.
It also noted that a suicide theory was also floated. “…is clear that a story of commission of suicide of the victim was in the air. The father of the victim also corroborated the fact that he was informed by the RG Kar Hospital authority that his daughter had committed suicide. There is no doubt to consider that from the end of any authority, efforts were made to show the death as a suicidal one so that the hospital authority would not face any consequences,” Judge Das stated.
Questioning the role of the then Principal and Medical Superintendent cum Vice-Principal (MSVP), Judge Das wrote in the judgment: “It is very much clear that the then Principal and MSVP of RG Kar Hospital were very much aware on getting the intimation that the victim was raped and murdered inside the hospital premises while she was on duty. It is not clear to me as to why the then principal or the MSVP did not send any official intimation to the police authority about such an unnatural death… The said act of the administrative head of the concerned hospital creates a shadow of doubt about the fact and it seems that they wanted to suppress anything and that there was dereliction of duty on their part.”
On Monday, Judge Das sentenced Sanjoy Roy, the sole convict, to life imprisonment. Roy, a 35-year-old civic volunteer of Kolkata Police, was convicted under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections of murder and rape. Maintaining that the case doesn’t meet the stringent criteria drawn from established guidelines of previous Supreme Court court judgments for imposing death penalty, the trial court stopped short of classifying the crime as “rarest of the rare”.