Our current concern is probe progress, submit case diary and report, HC tells state
Times of India | 4 July 2025
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the state to submit a report on the progress of the investigation into the campus rape and the case diary. The incident is being probed by the Kolkata Police detective department, along with an SIT, and the survivor's counsel told the court "she was getting all support from the SIT". The matter will be next heard on July 10.
Two PILs were filed before the division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das De, seeking a probe by a court-monitored SIT or CBI. In the PILs, the petitioner questioned the "unfettered entry" of accused Monojit Mishra, a former student, to the campus, especially beyond academic hours. The rape reportedly took place between 7.30 pm and 10.50 pm inside the guard's room beside the students' union room. The petitioners also pointed at the absence of CCTV cameras, lack of gender-sensitive safety protocols and institutional indifference in the violation of Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. Justice Sen asked for a response from the college administration over the litigants' allegations.
State counsel Kalyan Banydopadhyay told the judge, "We have done everything. After an FIR was registered, within three hours, a woman police officer arrested the prime accused.
" The judge clarified that at this point, the HC's only concern was the probe's progress.
It was pointed out that the survivor's family was not made a party in the case. Arindam Jana, representing the family, said they prayed to be added as a party, and that the survivor's identity should not be revealed at any cost. The advocate-on-record for the family is Yuvraj Chatterjee.
Bandyopadhyay told the court that a few girls from the college had been shown on channels and social media, which might have created an impression that one of them was the survivor. "It demeans the modesty of the survivor and the female, who have been shown with a mistaken identity. If required, an advisory shall be issued by the state home department to all media houses and to lodge appropriate complaints if in the social media any such attempt is made to confuse the survivor's identity," the judge directed.
One of the PILs filed by Souma Subhra Ray had an error and was dismissed. The state counsel said the petition seemed to have been copy-pasted. Justice Sen asked the petitioner to re-file the plea.