Supreme Court shifts suo motu case on RG Kar to Calcutta High Court
Telegraph | 18 December 2025
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, shifted the “suo motu” case it had filed regarding the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to the Calcutta High Court, which will now handle all related issues concerning the case.
A bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, while issuing the order, directed the Supreme Court registry to forward all documents and case records to the high court.
The bench formally requested the Chief Justice of the high court to create an appropriate division bench to oversee the case. Moreover, it instructed the CBI to provide a copy of the status report on the investigation’s progress regarding the rape and murder to the family of the deceased doctor.
“We consider it suitable to refer the matter to a division bench of the Calcutta High Court with a request to the Hon’ble Chief Justice to assign the matter to an appropriate bench...” Justice Sundresh remarked while issuing the order.
Interestingly, deviating from norms, the Supreme Court had previously, on August 18, 2024, despite it being a Sunday, taken suo motu cognizance of the rape and murder that occurred on August 9, 2024, and had subsequently issued a series of directives on the issue. This was one of the rare instances where the Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of a crime in a state, as no such cognizance was taken even during the infamous Nirbhaya gang rape and murder, which had deeply affected the national conscience in 2012.
Citizenship row
Another bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant on Wednesday set January 20 for the hearing of a Bengal-based NGO challenging a Calcutta High Court decision that had declined to intervene in a petition seeking protection from disenfranchisement for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, and Christian refugees who entered India in 2014 but had not yet been granted citizenship until the third week of January 2026.
The matter, which was brought before the bench also including Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, was adjourned to January.