HC rejects Ghosh's plea for time: RG Kar ex-principal wanted charge-framing to be delayed
Telegraph | 2 February 2025
The high court on Friday rejected a plea by Sandip Ghosh, the arrested former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, for more time before charges are framed against him in a case of alleged financial irregularities at the institution.
Turning down the former principal’s plea, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh said there had been a “systematic delay” in hearing the case on alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar.
Justice Ghosh told Ghosh’s lawyers that if they wanted to appeal for more time, they should inform the CBI and file a fresh case.
“There has been a systematic delay in the RG Kar case. I’m not going into who is doing it and why. However, after the chargesheet was submitted in November, there has been a delay in hearing the case,” Justice Ghosh said.
The CBI had on November 29 submitted a chargesheet in the case of alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital against Ghosh; Ashish Pandey, a house staff at the medical college and Trinamool youth leader; Afsar Ali, who was Ghosh’s guard when he was principal; and two contractors, Biplab Sinha and Suman Hazra.
However, charges could not be framed as the state government’s consent to prosecute Ghosh and Pandey was awaited.
On January 28, the CBI counsel informed Justice Ghosh’s bench that the state government’s consent had arrived and charges could be framed against the accused.
Justice Ghosh directed the CBI to complete the framing of charges by February 6.
On Friday, Ghosh’s lawyers told the court that the CBI planned to start the framing of charges within three days and there wasn’t enough time to go through the 10,000-odd documents submitted with the chargesheet.
They pleaded that the process be delayed so they had enough time to study the documents.
The judge, however, turned down the plea.
Ghosh, during whose tenure as the RG Kar principal a 31-year-old doctor was raped and killed on the campus on August 9, was arrested on September 2 for his alleged involvement with financial irregularities at the medical college.
The central investigating agency alleged that the financial fraud at the hospital was on for over three years. According to the agency, contracts were handed to people close to Ghosh.
Ghosh resigned as the RG Kar principal on August 12, following protests by junior doctors over the rape and murder, but was appointed the principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital within hours.
He, however, could not take over the new assignment as protesting junior doctors blocked the way to the office of the principal at Calcutta National Medical College and refused to let him in.
Calcutta High Court had on August 13 ordered that Ghosh be asked to go on leave immediately. The state health department suspended him on September 3 following his arrest by the CBI.
Ghosh was also arrested in connection with the rape and murder but was granted bail as the CBI could not file a chargesheet against him in the case within 90 days of his arrest.
He, however, was not released from custody because of his alleged involvement in the financial irregularities at RG Kar.