The Division Bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday released all the three petitions related to the 2024 RG Kar rape-murder case, saying it would not be able to hear the case on a regular basis as desired by the petitioners.
A writ petition was filed by the deceased junior woman doctor’s family, alleging lapses in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, and seeking a court-monitored investigation.
The other two cases related to the RG Kar rape-murder – sole convict Sanjoy Roy’s appeal challenging his conviction, along with the CBI’s appeal, seeking a death sentence for him – were slated to be heard by the Division Bench.
In January last year, the trial court sentenced the sole accused, Sanjoy Roy, who worked as a civic volunteer in the hospital, to life imprisonment after convicting him of rape and murder. The junior doctor’s family, however, has been alleging lapses in the CBI probe and claiming that more than one person was involved in the crime.
Releasing the petitions, the Division Bench on Wednesday noted that the junior doctor’s parents had earlier written a letter to the Chief Justice seeking a speedy hearing. “We are not a regular criminal appeal court, and so, we cannot take this matter regularly. We won’t be able to take it on a regular basis,” the Division bench said, adding the matter will now be placed before the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to be assigned to another bench.
During the hearing, Advocate Jayant Narayan Chattopadhyay, representing the parents of the RG Kar victim, said, “The CBI is not doing anything in the name of investigation in this case day after day.”
To which, Justice Debangshu Basak observed, “In the morning, you drew the court’s attention to the case for hearing. In addition, the family has written to the Chief Justice requesting an urgent hearing. It is not possible to hear this case so quickly.”
In August 2025, a single Bench of the High Court had transferred the writ petition to the Division bench of Justice Basak and Justice Rashidi, as two other cases related to the RG Kar rape-murder – Roy’s appeal challenging his conviction, along with the CBI’s appeal, seeking a death sentence for him- were slated to be heard by the Division Bench.
A postgraduate trainee doctor was found raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College on August 9, 2024. A civic volunteer, Sanjoy Roy, was arrested by the Kolkata police the next day. Roy was later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court.