The Supreme Court Wednesday transferred to the Calcutta High Court the suo motu case it had initiated in connection with the rape and murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, for hearings in the case.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and S C Sharma ordered, “We deem it appropriate to refer the matter to a division bench of the Calcutta High Court with a request to the Chief Justice to place the matter before an appropriate bench. Registry to transmit all the matters to the Calcutta High Court”.
The bench asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to share copies of the investigation reports with the victim’s parents and directed that the case papers be sent to the HC.
To a submission about the recommendations of the National Task Force constituted by the SC to suggest measures for enhancing the safety of medical professionals, the bench directed that the Calcutta High Court can look into it as well.
The Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe on August 13, 2024, after the body of a trainee doctor was found in the hospital’s seminar room on August 9.
Subsequently, as nationwide protests broke out over the brutal crime, the SC also initiated suo motu proceedings in the matter and has been monitoring the investigation and the trial since.
On August 20, 2024, the SC said that the incident had brought to “the forefront” the issue of “lack of institutional safety for doctors” and that “the nation cannot await a rape or murder for real changes on the ground”.
The apex court also set up a National Task Force to “formulate effective recommendations to remedy the issues of concern pertaining to the safety, working conditions and well-being of medical professionals and other cognate matters”. The task force formulated its recommendations in two categories: prevention of violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions, and prevention of sexual violence against medical professionals.
In January 2025, a sessions court in Kolkata’s Sealdah sentenced the prime accused, Sanjoy Roy, to life imprisonment in the case.