Kolkata rape-murder: CBI tells Supreme Court that altered crime scene is a challenge

The CBI, which is investigating the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the investigation was being hampered by the altered crime scene.

The investigation into the August 9 incident, which led to protests by doctors in several parts of the country, was transferred from the Kolkata Police to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court on August 13.

A day later, a mob targeted doctors protesting overnight and destroyed parts of the hospital.

The Supreme Court, which took cognizance of the incident on its own initiative, resumed proceedings on Thursday and again questioned the delay in filing an FIR by the Kolkata police in the case of rape and murder of the junior doctor.

The Supreme Court also questioned the state government’s decision to appoint the then director, Sandip Kumar Ghosh, to another hospital immediately after his resignation from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

After senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government and Kolkata police, argued that the police had followed all guidelines for registering cases, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, presiding over a bench also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said this still did not explain the delay in filing the FIR.

Referring to the CBI’s status report, the CJI said, “This does not justify registering your FIR at 11.45 pm in the evening, while the body was recovered shortly after 9-9.30 pm.”

The CJI further said, “What was the role of the principal? The principal of the university should have immediately reached the campus and ordered the filing of the FIR. Who was he in touch with? What were his connections? Why was he appointed as principal of another university as soon as he resigned? What was the purpose? He is still under investigation.”

Addressing the CBI, Attorney General Tushar Mehta said, “Our investigation is itself challenging as the place of offence has been changed.”

Sibal disagreed, saying, “Nothing is being changed, everything is being videotaped.”

Retracting, Mehta said, “The most shocking fact. The FIR is filed after the cremation, at 11.45 pm in the night. First, the parents are informed by the deputy director that their daughter is unwell. When they arrive, they say that she has committed suicide. Fortunately, the junior doctors, the colleagues of the deceased, insisted on taking video footage. This suggests that even they suspected a cover-up.”

Sibal said: “This is completely incriminating. I don’t want to contradict my friend, but the report will show what happened.”

The CJI also pointed out that only the autopsy was recorded on video.

The court also asked about the time when the police registered the case of unnatural death.
At one point, Justice Pardiwala said, “The entire procedure followed by your police is something I have not come across in my 30 years…”

Sibal claimed that the case of unnatural death was registered much earlier, on August 9, and that the confusion arose due to the terminology used by the police in the case diary.

He said all investigations were conducted in accordance with the law and that there was “no delay in the investigation”.

Sibal said the protesters should follow standard procedure and protest only at designated places.

Sibal further stated that the court had previously directed that no action should be taken against peaceful protesters and that if they did not follow standard procedures, the identity of the leader should not be disclosed.

The CJI said: “We have not said for a moment that the provisions of the law should not be followed. All we have said is that we should stop arresting people who are protesting peacefully.”

The case will be heard again on September 5.

(With input from agencies)