Three of the most well-known lawyers in the country will be squaring off against senior advocate Kapil Sibal in the Supreme Court when the next hearing in the RG Kar rape and murder case is held on October 1.
The family of the victim will be represented by Vrinda Grover, who will replace lawyer and CPM Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.
Grover was among the lawyers who had represented petitioners’ opposing the release of the 11 accused in the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat riots. She had also appeared in the Ishrat Jahan case and several other cases involving violation of women’s rights and human rights.
Grover will be the third in the trio of female lawyers that includes the veteran Indira Jaising and Karuna Nundy representing the junior and senior doctors in the most-talked about rape and murder case in recent time in Calcutta that took place inside a state-run medical college, among the most prominent ones in Calcutta.
In the last hearing held on September 17, both Jaising and Nundy had questioned the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision to hire 1,514 private security guards at the state-run health care facilities that prompted a strong reaction from the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
“What really happens is the accused was drawn from the contractual work, these contractual people will be trained for seven days and walking around all over the hospital, how do you ensure the safety? The crime was done by a volunteer,” CJI Chandrachud had observed after Nundy pointed out the accused in the rape and murder case was from the civic volunteer raised by the Mamata Banerjee government. “The GR says that they will be appointed by outsourcing agencies ....are there any psychological assessments done for recruiting them? The whole problem is when you entrust the security to contractual staff. Why is the government coming up with this?”
Sibal had tried to plead that all the procedures for the recruitment were being followed but ultimately had to back out. Sibal also had to back down after Nundy raised the issue of the restrictions on night duty imposed by the state government following the RG Kar incident.
“How can you say women cannot work at night? Why limit the duties of women doctors? They don't want a concession, they want equal opportunities. Women are ready to work exactly the same time shift. Mr Sibal you have to look at it, the answer to it is that you must give security,” the CJI had said.
Sibal will now have to face the volleys from Grover, the veteran of many a legal battle in Indian and international courts.
"I have nothing to say about this. It is the family's decision. I have withdrawn myself from the case," said Bhattacharya.
Most of Bengal has been glued to the hearings in the Supreme Court on the RG Kar case. Junior doctors of several government medical colleges and hospitals in Bengal earlier said they were disappointed as the Supreme Court pushed back the date of the next hearing.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Manoj Misra and Justice J.B. Pardiwala has been hearing the matter.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that is investigating the case – which has shocked Calcutta and the country – has been reporting to the apex court on the progress in the case in sealed covers.
At the last hearing, CJI Chandrachud said what the CBI had found in the case was “deeply disturbing”.
