Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked several pointed questions about the investigation into the rape and murder of the junior doctor at RG Kar Medical Collegeand Hospital.

The same questions have haunted many Calcuttans over the past few days. Here are some of them:

⦿ Why has the probe been so slow?

“We are convinced to say so because even after a lapse of five days there appears to be no significant progress in the investigation,” the high court said.

Only one suspect — a civic volunteer — has been arrested. There’s no clarity yet from police on whether more people were involved, a charge made by several protesters.

Police officers had said the arrest was made on the basis of electronic evidence, and other evidence collected from the crime scene.

“We had not finished our probe. We had increased its ambit by summoning all those whose statement could be important,” a senior officer told this newspaper.

⦿ Why did Sandip Ghosh, then RG Kar principal, not file a police complaint?

“The principal of the institution either by himself or by issuing appropriate directions could have lodged a complaint with the police since the death occurred within the hospital premises. This, in our view, was a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the principal,” the court said.

A senior health department official said the matter was being looked into. “Now, we have appointed two women — Suhrita Paul as principal and Bulbul Mukhopadhyay as vice-principal,” the official said without clarifying what a hospital administrator’s gender has to do with responding to a crisis like this.

⦿ Why did police register a case of unnatural death, instead of murder, at first?

“It is submitted that under normal circumstances, a case of unnatural death is registered when there is no complaint. When the deceased victim was a doctor working in the hospital, it is rather surprising as to why the principal/ hospital did not lodge a formal complaint. This, in our view, was a serious lapse, giving room for suspicion,” the court said.

The police said a murder case was started on a complaint from the victim’s family. After forensic examination of the body and completion of the post-mortem, rape charges were added.

⦿ Why have the police not recorded Ghosh’s statement?

“We had asked the learned Senior Standing Counsel as to whether the statement has been recorded from the Principal.... The reply at the time of hearing was that, no statement has been recorded,” the court said.

The police said they had summoned Ghosh to record his statement on Tuesday, but he did not turn up. “The person whose direct complicity was found from the crime scene was arrested within a day of the incident. Calling the other persons for statement recording is the discretion of the police,” a police officer told this newspaper.

⦿ Why was Ghosh rewarded with a fresh appointment so soon after his resignation?

“It is difficult to comprehend as to why when a person submits his resignation, the concerned authority of the state did not exercise the two options, which are available i.e. either to accept the resignation or to refuse to accept the resignation... if he has been assigned another responsibility equivalent to the responsibility held by them, it would be tantamount to putting a premium,” the order said.

A state government official said Ghosh was an “able administrator” and that the government felt his services could be used elsewhere.