RG Kar Hospital Murder-Rape Case| "We Are Dealing With Young People Of 18-23 Years": SC Says While Asking Health Secy To Tell What Modalities Are To Be Followed To Ensure Security Steps Are Taken
RG Kar Hospital Murder-Rape Case
While hearing the suo moto case in the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, the Supreme Court today asked the Health Secretary to tell the Court what modalities are followed to ensure that security steps are taken at the hospital.
"In areas where women rest at night in RG Kar, why cannot they have biometric access? The women who go to the seminar hall to rest can have biometric access," the Bench asked.
The Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra noted that an affidavit has been filed by the Health Secretary explaining the steps taken to upgrade the duty rooms, toilet facilities, and CCTV cameras in the government medical colleges and hospitals across the state.
The Court also noted that the data shows there are 28 government medical colleges in West Bengal and 9 in Kolkata. "We are dealing with young people of 18-23 years," the CJI remarked.
On perusal of the affidavit, the Court further noted, "Sanction has been granted for toilets, resting rooms, and additional CCTV cameras; besides budgetary provisions, work has commenced, the direction is to complete in 7-14 working days. Apart from 717 CCTV, additional CCTV cameras will be installed."
"In our view, the participatory process should be followed so that senior and junior doctors can also participate, We suggest Mr. Sibal that (1) District Management (DM) , (2) the principle of each medical hospital, and (3) the representative of each senior doctor shall be consulted so that the toilets and CCTVs, etc. are installed with their inputs, this shall be completed within two weeks," the Court ordered.
During the hearing, Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the parents of the deceased victim, suggested making the investigation available to them.
"I accept the suggestion; they must be informed (parents); that's the minimum the investigation agency should do for the parents of the girl," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, submitted.
On perusal of the CBI status report, the Bench expressed, "We are disturbed with what we have seen. Whatever has been flagged."
"Making a disclosure today of what the CBI is investigating will jeopardise the process. The line that is taken by the CBI is to unearth the truth...We have seen the status report, and the CBI has responded to all of the issues we have raised, including whether the challan was given, what was the process of PMR, whether evidence was destroyed, if there was any complicity by another person, etc,...There is still time to complete the investigation. We have to give CBI adequate time; they are not sleeping over. They are required to be given time to unearth the truth," the CJI said.
The CJI further stated that please send a message across that we are not making a detailed comment on the investigation, so that it should not put someone who is in doubt guards themselves. He asked the people concerned to be assured that the CBI has flagged all of there concerns in the status report.
The Court said, "At this stage, it would not be in the interest of a fair and complete investigation to disclose the leads that are being pursued by the CBI, or the line of investigation being followed by the CBI...The status report, that has been submitted dated 17 September is filed by Satyajit Singh (CBI)...Further, the letter dated 12.09.2024, addressed by the father of the deceased to the CBI, expresses the genuine concern of the parents of the deceased...the inputs shall be duly taken note of by the CBI."
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal, at the outset, objected to the live streaming of the court proceedings in this matter. Sibal submitted that he is only representing the State, not the accused. "50 years of reputation is at stake, my Lord!..Where was I laughing? This is a heinous crime that has happened against a woman," Sibal contended.
To this, the CJI said, "It is a matter of public interest; it is an open court. Live streaming won't be stopped."
"We are getting threats that acid will be thrown, we will be raped (women lawyers in the case)," Sibal submitted.
"If this is your concern, we will look into it. No member of the bar representing either side should face this problem," the CJI said.
The Bench also noted, "Appearing for senior resident doctors—Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, submitted that definite material is with the doctors indicating the presence of persons at the scene of crime, the names will be handed over to the CBI; the copy may be shared with the SG, who will in turn make it available to the IO...some of the concerns may be submitted to the CBI so that necessary steps are taken in the course of investigation."
Furthermore, the Court was apprised that Wikipedia has not removed the name of the deceased victim and that there is an image depicting her. "In the interest of maintaining the dignity and privacy of the victim... Wikipedia shall take steps to comply with the previous order and take steps," the Court ordered.
Pertinently, on September 9, the Court had directed the State of West Bengal to show the challan form (WB form 5371) indicating the details of the dispatch of the body for postmortem in the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, on August 9, 2024.
On September 3, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had filed an application before the Apex Court stating that Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel do not have proper accommodation and basic facilities in West Bengal. "Due to non-availability of accommodations, security gadgets, and paucity of transportation, duty personnel are facing a lot of difficulties in performing duties coming from various locations, especially the lady contingent," the MHA stated. The MHA had further stated that the matter of lack of any accommodation, including separate accommodation for female personnel, shortage of transport, logistics, and inadequate security infrastructure/gadgets, etc., was taken up with the Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal. However, the MHA has stated that they got no response from the state government.
"This non-cooperation is not expected from a State government in a tense situation such as the present one. The safety of doctors, and women doctors in particular, must be the top priority for the State of West Bengal," the MHA had said. Terming the inaction of the State of West Bengal as "symptomatic of a systematic malaise", the MHA had said that despite repeated requests, there is non-cooperation with central agencies operating under court orders.
On August 22, the Court urged the doctors to return back to work following the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, on August 9, 2024. During the pre-lunch session, the Court had expressed concern about the manner in which the West Bengal police have handled the case so far. "The entire procedure that has been followed by the State Police is something that I have not come across in my 30 years of career," Justice Pardiwala remarked.
Earlier, the Court had also expressed disappointment over the State of West Bengal's handling of the vandalism at the protest site. The Court had directed the formation of a "National Task Force" to recommend measures for ensuring the safety of medical professionals. Additionally, the Court ordered the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to protect resident doctors, particularly female doctors, at RG Kar Hospital. The Court had also expressed concerns about the lack of institutional safety norms at medical establishments against both violence and sexual violence.
Advocate Ujjawal Gaur, a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India seeking immediate intervention in the rape and murder case of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata.
Recently, the Calcutta High Court had directed transfer of investigation in the case from the Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. The Court was dealing with a batch of writ petitions filed as public interest litigations (PILs), in which the common prayer was to direct the state police authorities to immediately hand over all documents and evidence pertaining to the criminal proceedings initiated by them to the CBI or any other independent investigating agency. Earlier, the High Court had questioned the state government over the urgency to carry out renovation work near the crime scene. The Court also grilled the State on the timing of the renovation, asking why it was necessary to undertake such work immediately after the incident. The State's counsel submitted that the renovation was unrelated to the crime scene, explaining that the work was for a new restroom for doctors. The Bench ordered the State to provide a detailed reply on the various aspects of the case by August 20 and scheduled the next hearing for August 21.
Cause Title: In Re: Alleged Rape and Murder Incident of a Trainee Doctor in R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata and Related Issues [SMW (Crl) No. 000002/2024]