The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Bengal Govt Today (Aug 21) submitted a progress report on the investigation into the gruesome rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in the Supreme Court ahead of a hearing.
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NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted a progress report on the ongoing investigation into the horrific rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital to the Supreme Court ahead of a hearing scheduled for today.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, alongside Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, had previously taken up the case on its own initiative and conducted a hearing on Tuesday, August 20. During this session, the Supreme Court requested status reports on the investigation into both the rape-murder case and the acts of vandalism at RG Kar Hospital from the CBI and the Bengal government, respectively.
Both the CBI and the Bengal government have submitted their respective reports to the Supreme Court. The Bengal government’s legal representation in the case includes a team of 21 lawyers, while the Centre is represented by five advocates.
The brutal rape and murder of the 31-year-old postgraduate doctor have ignited nationwide outrage and protests, highlighting serious concerns about safety and justice.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the Supreme Court sharply criticized the Bengal government for its numerous lapses in handling the case, as well as its failure to prevent the vandalism at the state-run medical college and hospital. The Bengal government is also expected to file an additional status report today detailing the progress of its investigation into the vandalism incidents.
Previously, on August 13, the Calcutta High Court had transferred the investigation of the rape-murder case to the CBI, citing “serious lapses” by the RG Kar hospital administration as a key reason for this decision.
Lawyers Representing Bengal Government
A significant number of lawyers are involved in representing both the Bengal government and the Centre in this high-profile case. The legal team for the Bengal government includes:
- Kapil Sibal
- Menaka Guruswamy
- Sanjay Basu
- Astha Sharma
- Srisatya Mohanty
- Nipun Saxena
- Anju Thomas
- Aparajita Jamwal
- Sanjeev Kaushik
- Mantika Haryani
- Shreyas Awasthi
- Utkarsh Pratap
- Pratibha Yada
- Lihzu Shiney Konyak
- Ripul Swati Kumari
- Lavkesh Bhanbhani
- Arunisa Das
- Devadipta Das
- Archit Adlakha
- Aditya Raj Pandey
- Mehreen Garg
On the other side, the legal team representing the Centre comprises:
- Solicitor General Tushar Mehta
- Madhav Sinhal
- Arkaj Kumar
- Swati Ghildiyal
- MK Maroria, Advocate on Record (AOR)
What the Supreme Court Said in the Earlier Hearing
In the earlier hearing on Tuesday, the Supreme Court strongly criticized the Bengal government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital for its handling of the rape-murder case. The bench reprimanded the hospital authorities, particularly the former principal, Dr. Sandip Ghosh, for the delayed registration of a First Information Report (FIR), questioning, “why it was done several hours after cremation.”
The court also condemned the actions of the hospital authorities for making the victim’s parents wait “for three hours before they could see her body.”
Chief Justice Chandrachud expressed significant concern regarding the circulation of the victim’s name and photographs in the media, emphasizing that “the safety of women doctors was a matter of national interest” and asserting that “there is no principle of equality without the same.”
Additionally, the Supreme Court criticized the Bengal government for appointing Dr. Ghosh as the principal of another prominent state-run medical college and hospital just hours after his resignation from RG Kar hospital, an action that was met with disapproval from the bench.
In response to the ongoing issues, the court has established a ten-member National Task Force (NTF) to recommend measures for ensuring safe working conditions for healthcare professionals.
Doctors’ Bodies Move Supreme Court
In light of the concerns raised, the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) has approached the Supreme Court seeking interim protection for doctors until the recommendations of the National Task Force are fully implemented. The petition emphasized the need for immediate security measures, stating, “Doctors, especially women doctors, are scared after this horrific incident. Their families are not allowing them to do night duty, so security is necessary.”
The petition also suggested that interim security measures include “CCTV surveillance in all sensitive regions of a medical college or hospital (entry and exit gates, corridors, and hostel).”
Additionally, the National Federation of Resident Doctors of AIIMS has filed an intervention application with the Supreme Court. This application highlights the concerns of resident doctors across all AIIMS institutions in India and, like FAIMA, calls for interim protective measures until the NTF’s recommendations are implemented.
These developments underscore the critical need for reforms and immediate actions to ensure the safety of healthcare professionals, particularly women, in medical institutions across the nation.
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