Apex court: Parents can approach HC; Plea for further probe into RG Kar rape and murder
Telegraph | 18 March 2025
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the parents of the doctor raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to pursue in Calcutta High Court their plea for further CBI investigation into the alleged larger conspiracy.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna passed the directions while disposing of an application filed by the parents.
They had sought clarification from the apex court whether a single-judge bench of the high court could hear their petition for further probe into the alleged role of more suspects.
Appearing for the parents on Monday, advocate Karuna Nundy told the bench, also comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, that such a clarification was needed in view of the high court judge’s request.
“We are not saying anything… we are simply permitting the single judge to continue. We are not saying whether the investigations should continue or not….” CJI Khanna told the counsel.
“We dispose of the application with the observation that the applicant is at liberty to pursue the proceeding before the high court,” the judge said.
In December, a Calcutta High Court judge had advised the parents to seek clarification from a division bench headed by the high court’s chief justice on whether a single-judge bench could hear their plea. The division bench headed by the high court’s chief justice did not hear their plea as the Supreme Court was seized of the matter.
The apex court posted the next hearing of the matter in the third week of May.
The top court had in August last year initiated suo motu proceedings on the RG Kar probe and constituted a National Task Force to evolve a fool-proof mechanism to provide safety and security for doctors and paramedical staff across the country in the wake of the RG Kar hospital crime.
On January 29 this year, the parents of the slain doctor had withdrawn another application filed by them in which they had sought fresh investigations into the incident. According to them, there seemed to be more accused persons and apparently vital evidence had been tampered with.
The application was withdrawn after the apex court noted that certain statements had been made by the petitioners in an affidavit but a trial court had already convicted the sole accused, Sanjay Roy. Roy has been sentenced to life in prison.
That apart, the bench noted that a similar plea for further investigations into the alleged larger conspiracy angle was pending before Calcutta High Court.
“Please be careful that there is a conviction. What is there in your application has a lot of things which are debatable. Everything you say in court through an affidavit will have consequences,” the CJI-led bench orally told Nundy at the last hearing.
The family had then filed the latest application seeking liberty to pursue their remedy before the high court.
The apex court had taken suo motu cognizance of the RG Kar rape and murder and passed a series of directions since August 2024.