The protesting junior doctors at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital are hoping that the Supreme Court, at the hearing scheduled for Tuesday, would set a deadline for the CBI probe into the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee.

In a rare move, the apex court on Sunday took suo motu cognisance of the rape and murder. The bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra will take up the matter as a special criminal writ petition at 10.30am on Tuesday.

The junior doctors of RG Kar and other government medical colleges across the state have been on a cease-work since the woman was found raped and murdered on August 9 in the seminar room of the building housing the emergency department of
RG Kar.

Many of the protesters at RG Kar told Metro on Monday that they wanted to go back to work but were still scared because of lack of security at the hospital. Also, they said, many of their demands are yet to be met.

Protesters at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Monday. Pradip Sanyal

The protesters said 11 days have passed since the 31-year-old doctor was raped and murdered but only one man has been arrested. They suspect multiple persons were involved in the crime.

If the Supreme Court supervises the probe, or asks Calcutta High Court to do so, the truth will be unearthed faster, many doctors said.

“It has been 11 days since a doctor in our college was raped and murdered. Only one person has been arrested so far. We believe the brutality could not have been one man’s job. The CBI has taken over the probe but we know nothing about its progress,” said a junior doctor.

The high court had on Tuesday last week taken the probe away from the city police and handed it to the CBI. When Kolkata Police were probing the rape and murder, the city’s police commissioner, Vineet Goyal, met some of the protesting doctors and briefed them about the progress of the investigation.

The doctors said on Monday they are consulting a lawyer, who told them that it is unlikely that any officer from the CBI would brief them about the progress of the probe.

“The lawyer has told us that the CBI would only answer and submit its findings to the court,” said a junior doctor. “That is why we are pinning our hopes on Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing. If the Supreme Court sets a deadline for the probe or asks the CBI to submit an interim report, we will get some idea about the progress of the inquiry.”

Another protesting doctor said: “Supervision by the Supreme Court or the high court would lead to a time-bound and fair investigation.”

Among the initial demands of the doctors was the resignation of Sandip Ghosh from the post of principal of RG Kar medical college.

Ghosh put in his papers on August 12. Within hours, the state health department appointed him as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital.

The next day, however, the high court asked him to go on long leave. He applied for a fortnight’s leave and it was granted by the health department.

The protesters are also demanding enhanced security and a written apology from Ghosh, and the medical superintendent and dean of student affairs at RG Kar. They said these demands have not been met.

“We do realise that government hospitals depend heavily on postgraduate trainees, senior residents and housestaff. All of us want to get back to work because as doctors, our primary role is to treat patients. But we have not seen any serious steps by the government to enhance our security,” said a senior resident, who has been protesting at RG Kar since the start of the cease-work.

Some of the protesting doctors said they were talking among themselves about whether they need to change the mode of protest. That could mean ending the cease-work and carrying on with protest rallies or token “pen-down” protests at regular intervals to sustain the pressure on the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation and the arrest of the “real culprits”.

“Much would depend on what the Supreme Court says on Tuesday,” said a protester.