The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned Kolkata Police’s long delay in registering an “unnatural death” case and the subsequent FIR in the RG Kar rape and murder, as well as its tardiness in cordoning off the purported crime scene, key to preserving evidence.

“The entire procedure followed by your state (Bengal) is something which I have not come across in the last 30 years of my legal career,” one of the three judges on the bench, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, orally observed.

Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who headed the bench, however, cautioned a counsel when he intervened to say that 150gm of semen had been found at the crime scene.

“Don’t use social media to make arguments; we have the post-mortem report before us, don’t read what is in the social media,” Justice Chandrachud said.

The bench, which included Justice Manoj Misra, expressed surprise that while the body was found on the morning of August 9, the police had waited till 11.30pm to cordon off the crime scene, by when all other formalities like the GD (general diary) entry, inquest and post-mortem had been over. The FIR was registered at 11.45pm.

“One aspect is extremely disturbing… the cordoning of the crime scene was done at 11.30 pm…,” the bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was appearing for the Bengal government.

The police are supposed to quickly cordon off the entire crime scene to prevent manipulation or destruction of evidence and keep unauthorised people away.

“The judicial magistrate said an autopsy was conducted on the evening of August 9, at 4.20pm, the GD entry of unnatural death recorded at 11.30 at night.... This is very surprising, post-mortem precedes registration of the UD (unnatural death)… and FIR recorded at 11.45pm!” the bench remarked.

The apex court made the oral observations while going through sealed-cover reports submitted by the CBI on its investigation into the rape and murder, and the Bengal government’s status report on its probe into the vandalism at RG Kar on August
14-15 night.

The bench repeatedly asked Sibal why the FIR had been registered only at 11.45pm, and the “unnatural death” case was registered only after the post-mortem had been conducted.

It’s a fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that the police initially record a case under 174 CrPC (now replaced by Section 194 BNSS) immediately on receiving information on the unnatural death of a person. And it’s only after the registration of an FIR that a post-mortem is undertaken.

Sibal said the police had waited for a formal complaint from the victims’ parents who wanted the registration of an FIR to be withheld for some time.

However, the bench said, the then principal of the college should have come forward and directed the filing of an FIR.

“The conduct of the assistant superintendent (non-medical) is also very doubtful,” Justice Pardiwala said without elaborating.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, complained that the crime scene had been altered. Sibal denied the allegation, saying the Kolkata Police’s entire investigation had been videographed.

The top court asked the Bengal government to keep a responsible official present in the court to answer its queries, saying the necessary answers were not forthcoming.

A verbal duel broke out between Mehta and Sibal when the solicitor-general complained that “one sitting minister of the West Bengal government has said that ‘If anyone talks against our leader their fingers will be chopped off’”.

Sibal countered: “The leader of the Opposition says that acid bombs will be thrown and that they will shoot down people.”

The CJI shot back: “Don’t politicise the issue.”