The parents of the RG Kar victim on Wednesday withdrew their application from the Supreme Court for a fresh probe into the rape and murder of their daughter, which they had sought citing that “more than one person” was involved in the crime and vital evidence had been “tampered with”.
When the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, senior advocate Karuna Nundy, appearing for the parents, sought permission to withdraw the application. The bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar granted the permission.
Nundy withdrew the application after the bench noted that certain statements had been made by the petitioners in an affidavit but the trial court had already convicted Sanjay Roy, the lone accused in the chargesheet.
The bench also noted that a similar plea for further investigations into an alleged larger conspiracy behind the rape and murder was pending before Calcutta High Court.
“Please be careful that there is a conviction. What is there in your application has a lot of things which are debatable. Everything you say in court through an affidavit will have consequences,” the CJI verbally told Nundy.
After initially stating that there were certain lapses in the investigation process, the senior advocate submitted that the application for a fresh probe was filed before the trial court had pronounced the conviction.
Hence, she sought permission to withdraw the application.
The bench also directed that the absence from work of the doctors who had gone
on nation-wide protests following the rape and murder of the junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 would not be treated as absence from duty, provided they had complied with the apex court order of August 22.
“We… clarify that if the protesting workers had joined work post this court’s order dated 22-08-2024, then their absence shall be regularised and not be treated as absence from duty. This order is issued in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and shall not be construed as laying down any precedent,” the bench said.
The apex court had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of the rape-and-murder case and has since passed a series of directions.
On August 20 last year, the Supreme Court had constituted a 14-member National Task Force (NTF) “on the urgent need to formulate protocols” to prevent rape, sexual harassment of female medical personnel and attacks on the medical fraternity.
The NTF has been tasked with the responsibility of evolving various safety
measures such as the installation of CCTV cameras at all entry/exit points of hospitals and the setting up of internal complaints committees at hospitals to prevent sexual harassment of female medical staff.