Some of the questions Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of Calcutta High Court asked the CBI at Monday’s hearing of the RG Kar case and what the central agency had earlier said and submitted:
Judge: “You must tell me whether at any time you (CBI) took into consideration investigating under Section 70 of BNS (gang rape)?”
The judge asked if any investigation was done on these lines at all.
What the CBI chargesheet said: The chargesheet submitted by the central agency in October 2024 mentioned Sanjay Roy as the lone accused in the rape and murder case.
Judgment: At the completion of the trial, additional district and sessions judge, Sealdah, Anirban Das, said in his judgment that considering the testimony of two prosecution witnesses —Apurba Biswas, professor of forensic medicine at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and Adarsh Kumar, professor of forensic medicine at AIIMS, Delhi — it was concluded that the offence was committed by a single person.
“I have perused the opinions of the PW-21 (Apurba Biswas) and the PW-37 (Adarsh Kumar) and also perused the still photographs of the post-mortem examination. I have also considered the nature of the injuries over the facial areas of the victim and that the said injuries were resistance injuries… From the PM report as well as the reply of the PW-21 during the cross-examination…. This evidence also suggests that the assault was done by a single person. On the basis of the discussion above, I am of the view that the victim was attacked by a single person and the said person committed the smothering and throttling as well as penetrative sexual assault,” the judgment said.
Judge: “The accused has been convicted in this case. What was the language of the charge before the trial court? Is it a sole offence committed by an accused or is it a case of gang rape?”
Justice Ghosh asked whether the charge was framed considering that only person was involved in the crime.
What the CBI chargesheet said: The CBI in its chargesheet did not mention anything that suggested the possible involvement of a second person in the rape and murder.
“During the investigation conducted so far, involvement of accused Sanjay Roy has been clearly established in the commission of offences punishable u/s 64, 66, 103(1) of BNS, 2023,” the chargesheet read.
Judge: “If you had in your mind that this could have been an offence of gang rape, then who were the suspects according to you at the relevant point of time?”
What the CBI chargesheet said: If at all any other suspects were under probe, there was no reflection of that in the CBI chargesheet.
Judge: “What further investigation are you doing? Chargesheet has been submitted long ago. There has not been a supplementary chargesheet. What are you doing?”
The judge asked if the CBI was probing possible gang rape or simply restricting the probe to destruction of evidence.
What the CBI chargesheet said: The CBI chargesheet mentioned that the alleged roles of former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh and former Tala officer-in-charge Abhijit Mondal were under the scanner for a “larger conspiracy” and “destruction of evidence”.
The chargesheet further mentioned: “The acts /omissions on the part of Abhijit Mondal, the then SHO Tala, and Sandip Ghosh, the then Principal of RG Kar MC&H with regard to attempt to hush up the matter, destruction of evidence have surfaced and both of them have been arrested and presently, are in Judicial Custody. Investigation against them on the aspect of larger conspiracy including in-depth investigation on the aspect of involvement of others, if any, in the commission of crime or its abetment is in progress w/s 193(9) of BNSS, 2023. After completion of further investigation, a supplementary Final Report will be filed.”
Because there was no supplementary chargesheet, both Ghosh and Mondal were granted bail.