The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the CBI investigation so far into the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital had thrown up details that were “worse” than some of the allegations swirling around the case and had left the judges “disturbed”.

The court, however, refused to make public the contents of the sealed-cover probe status report submitted to it on Tuesday, lest those allegedly involved or complicit in the possible destruction of evidence get alerted.

When an advocate complained that hashtags of video footage from the hospital related to the crime had been tampered with when the probe was being initially conducted by Kolkata Police, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud orally observed: “What the CBI has disclosed in the status report is (even) worse. We are ourselves disturbed by what we have read.”

The court directed the Mamata Banerjee government to withdraw its notification that had restricted women doctors from working night shifts, saying no such injunctions could be imposed.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, assured the court that the notification would be taken back.

The bench, which included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, turned down Sibal’s plea for stopping the live-streaming of the proceedings on the ground that footage was being misused to threaten women lawyers, including those working in his chambers, with rape and acid attacks.

Justice Chandrachud said in connection with the investigation status report: “The status report of the CBI shows that disclosing the (details of the) investigation will jeopardise the line of investigation and let me assure you that it is to unearth the absolute truth…. Apart from the (former RG Kar) principal (Sandip Ghosh), the SHO (Tala police station OC Abhijit Mondal) is also arrested. So let us wait. We have seen the status report.”

The CJI said the CBI had addressed issues such as whether a challan in the statutory form had been submitted for the postmortem. The challan details the garments and ornaments found on the body and is considered an important piece of evidence.

“It is exploring if there is a likelihood of the scene of crime being tampered with, complicity of any other person, evidence, if any, being destroyed, etc. It will be unwise for us to disclose anything further,” Justice Chandrachud told the lawyers on either side during the hearing.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, supported the bench’s views and said any such disclosure would only help the accused persons at this stage.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing on behalf of the striking junior doctors, said: “We have names of persons who were at the scene of the crime who had no business to be there. We can submit the names in sealed cover to the CBI. I am not making it public in the light of concerns aired by this court.”

The bench said the father of the deceased had made some suggestions on leads that should be investigated. “We are not making it public; we will say that these are valuable inputs and the CBI should look into this. The CBI is itself handicapped by the five-day delay,” the bench said, referring to the time lapse between the date of the crime and the handover of the probe to the agency.

The court was informed by Mehta and senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, also representing the Bengal government, that Wikipedia was yet to remove the picture and name of the victim despite the bench’s earlier directive to all media platforms to do so.

The CJI said the court would pass necessary orders.

“Please send a message across that we are not making a detailed comment” so that any person linked to the alleged tampering of evidence becomes alert. “Please be assured that the CBI has flagged all of this in the status report,” the bench observed.

A counsel representing one of the aggrieved parties said some vital evidence had perhaps been withheld from the police and even the pair of jeans worn by the victim was not sent along with the body for the postmortem.

The CJI asked Mehta to ensure that the CBI also investigates the angle relating to alleged tampering with the hashtag of the video footage.

The counsel appearing for the senior doctors alleged that financial irregularities at RG Kar was intricately linked to the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee.

Justice Chandrachud asked the CBI to file the next status report on the probe by examining whether the rape and murder was linked to financial irregularities.

The bench also recorded the Bengal government’s statement that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said no punitive action would be taken against the doctors on a cease-work.

The court firmly told the Bengal government that there can be no restrictions on women doctors working at night and asked the state to immediately remove the order. The court expressed surprise when a counsel informed the bench that the state had come out with such a notification.

“How can you say women cannot work at night? Why limit women doctors? They don’t want a concession. Women are ready to work in night shifts,” Justice Chandrachud told Sibal.

The bench said it was the duty of the state to provide security to all citizens, including women.