Calcutta High Court directs CBI investigation into the Kolkata doctor’s rape and murder case

A division bench comprising Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya expressed concern over claims that the police initially recorded the student’s death as a case of suicide. It is alleged that her parents were informed accordingly and made to wait for hours before they could be allowed to view her body. The bench said, “There are allegations that an unnatural death case was initially registered as one of suicide. If so, there are serious implications. If somebody has actually told the parents that it was an illness first and then changed it to suicide, there is a serious lapse. If this is true and the parents were misinformed and kept waiting, then the administration is failing them. This sort of treatment towards the deceased is unacceptable; more sensitivity is required in such cases. If the doctors are involved and claim that the principal attributed the condition of the deceased to psychosis, this is extremely worrying. By now, the statement of the principal should have been recorded

The senior counsel prayed that the matter be immediately transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since crucial evidence could be destroyed with the passage of time.

The Calcutta High Court has ordered the probe into the rape-cum-murder case of Kolkata-based doctors to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court, in its order on Tuesday, asked the police to immediately hand over all documents pertaining to the case to the CBI. The court’s decision was based on apprehensions that evidence could be tampered with.
While pronouncing the verdict, the court said that in usual cases, it could have granted further time for the probe. But it was vexed that even after five days of the probe, there was no expected result that came out of the investigation. It pointed out that this was a special case where the evidence may be destroyed and since the probe was moving at a slow pace, it had no option but to transfer the case to the CBI without wasting any further time.

The court has directed the state counsel to ensure that the case diary and other relevant records are handed over to the CBI by 10 am on Wednesday, August 14. It has also directed the CBI to keep it updated about the progress of the case.

It has also directed the state, the hospital superintendent and the doctors concerned to file their reports and suggestions. Further course of action will be decided by the court after going through the reports. The court will hear the case again after three weeks. The CBI is expected to file its first report by the next date of hearing.

This transfer has been done after the petition of the parents of the postgraduate trainee doctor for a court-monitored investigation into the matter, apart from several public interest litigations that have been filed for a CBI probe.

MrSinghtv.com