Kolkata, Jan 22, 2025
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Wednesday, challenged the West Bengal government’s plea at a division bench of Calcutta High Court seeking the “death penalty” for Sanjay Roy, the sole convict in the case of rape-murder of a woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Whether the state government’s petition on this count will be admissible or not will be heard at the same division bench on January 27.
A special court in Kolkata, on January 20, sentenced Roy to life imprisonment in the case and stated that his offence cannot be considered the “rarest of rare crimes”. However, the West Bengal government challenged the special court order and approached Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi on Tuesday moving the plea for the death sentence of Roy.
As the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday morning, CBI challenged the petition by the state government and questioned the grounds on which it could make such an appeal.
The deputy solicitor general, Rajdeep Majumdar argued that it was only the CBI, which is the investigating agency in the case, and the victim’s parents who could move such a plea at a higher court, and not the state government, which is not a party in the case.
To recall, after the body of the doctor was recovered from a seminar hall within the R.G. Kar premises on the morning of August 9, 2024, the initial investigation was carried out by the Kolkata Police. It was the Kolkata Police which first arrested Roy. However, after five days of initial investigation by the city police, the charge of the probe into the matter was handed over to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.
On this point, Majumdar also referred to a case by CBI against former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, where the state government’s plea was not considered by the Patna High Court.
However, the state advocate general, Kishor Datta while appearing on behalf of the state government, in his counterargument said that in this particular case, the West Bengal government can appeal under Section 377 (which allows the state government to appeal a sentence if it considers it inadequate) and Section 378 (relating to appeals against acquittal orders for cognizable and non-bailable offences) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC). Finally, the division bench decided to hear the argument on the admissibility of the state’s government’s plea in the matter on January 27.(Agency)
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