The Calcutta High Court division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee on Thursday released a PIL filed against former Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal for allegedly revealing the name of the R G Kar rape and murder victim.

The bench said it made the decision “due to personal reasons”, and that the matter will be sent to another bench.

The PIL was filed against Goyal in September 2024. At the time of the incident, he was the Commissioner of Kolkata police. He has since been transferred to the post of Additional Director General (ADG) of the Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police.

The Supreme Court and the High Court had passed directions against revealing the identity of the post-graduate trainee doctor whose body was found in the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital’s seminar hall on August 9.

While Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata police, had been arrested by the police, the Calcutta High Court later handed the investigation to the CBI. Roy, the lone convict in the case, was sentenced to life imprisonment till death in January this year by a Sealdah court. Since then, the Calcutta High Court has admitted a plea from the CBI to move for death penalty while rejecting a similar appeal by the state government.