Supreme Court defers RG Kar rape, murder case hearing till November
A bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma adjourned the matter as it was busy in a part-heard case. Senior advocate Karuna Nandy, representing the Association of Junior and Senior Doctors, submitted that doctors who took part in peaceful protests were being called for interrogation by the police and requested the bench to give an early date for hearing.
The apex court, even after the primary conviction, is monitoring multiple ancillary issues, including regularising the unauthorised absence of doctors.
The body of the postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the hospital’s seminar room on August 9 last year. Kolkata police arrested Roy, a civic volunteer, the next day. While taking suo motu notice of the case, the bench constituted a National Task Force (NTF) on August 20 last year to formulate a protocol to ensure the safety and security of medical professionals in the wake of the crime.
In November last year, the NTF, in its report—part of the Central government’s affidavit—stated that a separate central law to deal with offences against healthcare professionals was not required. The panel said state laws had adequate provisions to address minor offences, besides serious ones under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
In a slew of recommendations, the NTF noted that 24 states had enacted laws to address violence against healthcare professionals while defining the terms “health care institutions” and “medical professionals”.
Initially investigated by the Kolkata police, the case was transferred to the CBI on August 13 after the Calcutta High Court expressed dissatisfaction with the former’s investigation. The top court subsequently assumed oversight of the matter on August 19, 2024.
Roy was chargesheeted by the CBI in October last year.
—
*This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed and agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, or data of the text. Mid-day management and mid-day.com reserve the sole right to alter, delete, or remove (without notice) the content at their absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.*
https://www.mid-day.com/news/india-news/article/supreme-court-defers-rg-kar-rape-murder-case-hearing-till-november-23597616
