30 September, 2024
Key points of the Honourable Supreme Court hearing today regarding the alleged rape and murder case at at R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata:
1. The Honourable Court reviewed the status of the CBI investigation into both the murder case and related financial irregularities. Significant leads have been uncovered
2. Sr Advocate Karuna Nandy representing JPD raised the pertinent and burning issues related to all doctors of West Bengal in a very articulated manner. We are very thankful to our legal team under her leadership
3. The learned lawyers were literally held short of mentioning the names of those who were present at the crime scene in the following morning. Demands were made to at least temporarily remove them from their current positions as the juniors may not feel secured with them being present in their current positions. The state government counsel promised to act without delay if any such lead comes from the CBI
4. Sr Advocate Karuna Nandy also mentioned about unabated violence at the state hospitals (Sagore Dutta and one other). The state government made a futile attempt to defend saying a bed was not offered to a moribund patient but he was simply ruled over
5. The Court expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the slow progress of safety measures in medical institutions across WB. The Bench, led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, criticised the state’s delays in installing CCTV cameras and constructing toilets in government medical colleges, urging the state to expedite the work, which is less than halfway completed. The government has now committed to completing the remaining work by 15 October
6. Mentions were made about the ongoing threat culture using state machinery including the West Bengal Medical Council
7. While the corruption racket may well extend beyond the state the Honourable CJI preferred to limit the current investigations by the CBI only to RG Kar MCH, as it may take much longer. However he offered to extend the scope of this corruption inquiry to an inter-state level if necessary at a future date
8. The Court addressed concerns over social media posts revealing the victim’s identity, instructing the appropriate authorities for removing such contents
9. Wr will submit their detailed proposals to National Task Force within the next couple of days with an appeal to allow JPD to present their concerns and suggestions in person to the Task Force as reiterated by the CJI on mentioning by our Learned Senior Counsel
The next hearing is scheduled for October 14, when the National Task Force is also expected to submit its interim report on safety measures for medical professionals.
