The BJP on Monday described the life imprisonment of Sanjay Roy by a Sealdah court in the RG Kar rape and murder case as a travesty of justice and urged the CBI to appeal to a higher court.

The Congress said the outcome of the investigation was a conspiracy jointly hatched by the Centre and the state.

“Life imprisonment and a 50,000-rupee fine for Sanjoy Roy, accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, is a travesty of justice. The verdict must be appealed. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must stop shielding the criminal. Agencies also need to investigate the role of the then Kolkata Commissioner and the Chief Minister in the destruction of evidence,” BJP's Bengal co-incharge Amit Malviya wrote on X.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said the CBI didn’t have the opportunity to conduct a full-fledged investigation because in the first four days after the rape and the murder of the junior doctor, Kolkata Police were instrumental in destroying all the evidence.

“Being a minister of the Union government, I cannot contest any court verdict but as the state president of the BJP, I can say we are not at all happy with the judgment. I would like to appeal to the CBI to move to a higher court. The former Kolkata Police commissioner, Vineet Goyal, was instrumental in destroying the evidence. So, the CBI should also initiate investigation against him,” Majumdar said at a rally to protest against the recent death of a woman at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital allegedly because of the use of "substandard" Ringer's lactate.

Reacting to chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s statement that Roy would have received the death penalty if the investigation had been handled by the Kolkata police, Majumdar said: “We all know what happened in the Kamduni case! The investigation was carried out by the state police and Vineet Goyal was heading the CID then. Yet, all the accused in the rape and murder case are still walking free.”

The CPM, on the other hand, hinted at a conspiracy between the central and the state governments to make Sanjay Roy a scapegoat, thereby allowing the other perpetrators of the crime to escape justice.

“This is merely an order, not justice. It is evident to everyone that such a brutal rape and murder could not have been carried out by just one person. Furthermore, the CBI’s endorsement of the Kolkata police’s investigation suggests that the authorities are attempting to cover something up. As we have stated before, we will stand by the parents of the accused until justice is served,” CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said.

"We cannot comment on a court order, but no one is satisfied with the judgment. There is a strong belief that while Sanjay Roy may have committed the crime, he is not alone. There are others whom the investigating agency failed to identify. The BJP government at the Centre and the Trinamool Congress government in the state have together protected the real culprits," said Congress spokesperson Soumya Aich Roy.