Thursday, 19 September 2024
Thursday, 19 September 2024
What the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has revealed in its status report filed to the Supreme Court in the rape and murder case of the postgraduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital is “deeply disturbing,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud orally observed on Tuesday.
It was a telling moment in the courtroom drama that also saw two of India’s most high-profile lawyers, senior advocates Indira Jaising and Kapil Sibal, sparring over the plight of doctors in Bengal.
During the fourth hearing in the rape and murder case, the CJI said the CBI should not be rushed into reaching a conclusion in the probe.
Many in Bengal, including a section of the ruling Trinamul, have been demanding speedy justice from the CBI in the case.
CJI Chandrachud said that the CBI needed time to uncover “the whole truth”.
Another bombshell moment in the hearing on Tuesday was delivered by Jaising.
Appearing on behalf of the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front that has been spearheading the doctors’ protest, she submitted a sealed envelope before the bench containing names of persons present at the scene of crime. These people, Jaising said, had no business being there at the crime scene.
Here some things that we learnt from Tuesday’s hearing:
1. CBI files status report, CJI says ‘deeply disturbing’
CJI Chandrachud cautioned everyone present at the hearing about the sensitivity of the investigations.
“Making a disclosure today of what the CBI is investigating will jeopardise the process, the line which is taken by the CBI is to unearth the truth. The SHO [officer in-charge] himself has been arrested… CBI has responded specifically to the issues we have raised, including whether the challan in the statutory form was submitted along with the post-mortem. CBI is also exploring the possibility of whether the scene of the crime was tampered with, evidence was destroyed, whether there was the complicity of other persons in failing to report the crime, etc,” the CJI orally observed.
At one point, he said that what the CBI had revealed was “deeply disturbing”.
2. Confusion over RG Kar CCTV footage
During the hearing, counsel Phiroze Edulji, appearing on behalf of an independent petitioner for the parents of the RG Kar victim, referred to what he alleged were discrepancies in the seizure lists, the victims clothes not being sent to the doctors conducting the post-mortem, the sketch map and the footage submitted.
Eduljee questioned why the Kolkata Police had submitted only 27 minutes of footage to the central agency. He suggested the CBI use the “genome testing” and “tower dumping technology” in the case. Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of the Bengal government, disagreed vehemently with the assertions of both Edulji and solicitor-general Tushar Mehta who was representing the CBI.
Sibal said pen drives and a hard drive with footage of seven to eight hours from all the cameras at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital had been handed over to the CBI. His team brandished a document withy the list of evidences handed over to the CBI, signed also by a CBI official.
It is not clear whose claim is true.
Eduljee also expressed concern whether a blocker device was used to protect the “hash value” of the CCTV footage. Solicitor general Mehta said they could not be certain if the device was re-written.
“I won’t give here details of the dates because it will dislocate the investigation. We don’t want someone to take advantage of it as a technical issue later on but what the CBI has revealed in its report is worse; really disturbing, what you are flagging is of utmost concern, we ourselves are concerned , CBI has flagged it for us. We are ourselves disturbed by what we have read,” said the CJI.
3. RG Kar victim’s family writes to Supreme Court
The CJI revealed that the RG Kar victim’s father had written a letter to the Supreme Court’s three-member bench on September 12, expressing concerns and sharing some specific inputs regarding the investigation.
“A letter dated 12 Sept addressed by father of deceased has been shared, the letter expresses the genuine concerns of the parents, and gives inputs...bearing in mind the genuine concerns, we are of the opinion that the inputs be duly taken by the IO [investigating officer]. The solicitor general has assured that the CBI will maintain contact with the parents and inform about the investigation.”
The CJI also hinted that what the victim’s family had flagged was on the CBI’s radar.
4. Kolkata Police do not use challans for post-mortem, Sibal says.
Twice during the hearing once at the beginning and again at the fag end, Sibal raised the issue of the challan that was mentioned during the third hearing held last week. Eduljee had claimed that the challan requisitioning for the conduct of post-mortem was placed before the Calcutta high court and has since gone missing. He iterated that claim on Tuesday.
Sibal informed the apex court that the Kolkata Police do not use challans for post-mortems since 1997. “That form 5371 has not been used since 1997. It was not shown to the high court. That’s a wrong statement. We used a requisition as per the government of India standard operating procedure,” Sibal said.
CJI Chandrachud told Sibal: “We don’t buy the explanation.”
5. Bengal govt draws flak for restrictions on women working at night
Karuna Nundy, the counsel representing the senior doctors, and Indira Jaising questioned the Bengal government’s decision to hire 1,514 private security guards through an agency to be deployed at the state-run healthcare facilities.
Nundy pointed out to the court that the prime accused in the RG Kar rape-murder case is a civic volunteer.
Jaising demanded the private force be dismantled immediately. Nundy also brought to the court’s attention the Bengal government’s Rattirer Shaathi initiative that says that women doctors should not be put on night shifts or given shifts beyond 12 hours.
“How can you say women cannot work at night? Why limit the duties of women doctors? They don't want a concession, they want equal opportunities. Women are ready to work exactly the same time shift. Mr Sibal you have to look at it, the answer to it is that you must give security,” said the CJI.
On the recruitment of the private security guards, the CJI observed: “...the accused was drawn from the contractual work, these contractual people will be trained for 7 days and walking around all over the hospital, how do you ensure the safety? The crime was done by a volunteer, the GR [government resolution] says that they will be appointed by outsourcing agencies ....are there any psychological assessments done for recruiting them? The whole problem is when you entrust the security to contractual staff. Why is the government coming up with this?”
Sibal said the government would delete both provisions from its initiative.
