The Supreme Court heard the Kolkata rape and murder case on Tuesday and put everyone from the Mamata Banerjee government of West Bengal to the police and the hospital administration in the dock. A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra live-streamed the hearing and strongly reprimanded the delay, negligence and cover-up in the case. The SC has asked the central investigating agency CBI to file a status report by Thursday. The Supreme Court said that a National Task Force will be formed to consider the safety of doctors at the workplace. The task force will include doctors, who will inform us about the methods adopted across the country to ensure safety.
The body of a 31-year-old female trainee doctor was found on the night of 9 August at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The incident took place in the seminar hall. There were injury marks on the body and blood was flowing. Investigation revealed that the doctor was raped and then murdered. The police arrested the accused Sanjay Roy and sent him to jail. However, the possibility of many people being involved in this incident has not been ruled out. The Kolkata High Court transferred the investigation of the case from the police to the CBI. The investigating agency is continuously interrogating the former principal of the hospital.
CJI asked, why was the principal made to join another college? The court said that we are also concerned about the victim’s identity being exposed. Showing the victim’s photo and her body after postmortem is worrying. We are very concerned about the victim’s photos and name being circulated on social media. CJI said that the victim’s identity was revealed everywhere. Whereas this should not have happened. CJI asked the West Bengal government whether the principal had called the murder a suicide? Were the victim’s parents informed late? Were they not allowed to meet?
A three-member bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud reprimanded the West Bengal government and the hospital administration. The CJI said that when the murder took place, the victim’s parents were not present there. It was the responsibility of the hospital management to register an FIR. The CJI asked why the FIR was registered late? What was the hospital administration doing? The CJI asked – what was the principal doing at that time? The victim’s body was also handed over to the parents late. The SC asked, who registered the FIR first and when. It was informed that the first FIR was registered in the case at 11.45 PM that night. The CJI said that the FIR was registered 3 hours and 30 minutes after handing over the body to the parents?
The court reprimanded the West Bengal government and police for the delay in filing the FIR (First Information Report). The court said, initially no FIR was registered in the case. What was the police doing? A serious crime has been committed. The rioters were allowed to enter the hospital? The CJI said why did the police not protect the crime scene? Why were thousands of people allowed to come inside? The first job of the police is to protect the crime scene.
CJI said that CBI should file a status report in this case by Thursday. The investigation is currently in a delicate phase. Therefore, the report should be given directly to the court.
CJI said that we want to form a national task force in which all doctors are a part. CJI told the doctors that you should trust us. The doctors who are on strike should understand that the health care system of the entire country is with them. We urge the doctors to return to work. We appeal to the doctors. We are here to ensure their safety. We will not leave it to the High Court. This is a matter of great national interest.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, this should not be considered a light matter. We are dealing with the incident of rape of a young doctor by a sexually deviant person, but there was also an animalistic tendency in it. I do not want to make it a political issue. The parents had to wait for 3 hours to see the body of their daughter. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared on behalf of West Bengal.
A National Task Force has also been formed. A report has been sought in three weeks. This task force will inform the court about the methods adopted to ensure the safety of people associated with the medical profession.
Who is in the task force?
– Surgeon Vice Admiral Aarti Sareen, Director General Medical Services (Navy).
– Dr. D Nageswara Reddy.
– Dr. M Srinivas, AIIMS Delhi Director
– Dr. Pratima Murthy, NIMHANS Bengaluru
– Dr. Goverdhan Dutt Puri, AIIMS Jodhpur
– Dr. Soumitra Rawat, Member, Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi
– Professor Anita Saxena, Vice Chancellor
– Dr. Pallavi Saple, JJ Group Hospital
– Dr. Padma Srivastava, Chairperson Neurology, Paras Hospital Gurugram
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)