Kolkata Horror: Top Court’s Tough Questions As CBI Claims CCTV Footage Gaps

Hearing the matters linked to a rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the Supreme Court today said the CBI is pursuing multiple leads and must not be rushed to file a chargesheet in the sensitive case

Here are 10 facts from this big story

1. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra went through the CBI’s status report and said any disclosure would disrupt the probe. “Apart from the principal, SHO is also arrested. So let us wait. we have seen the status report,” the Chief Justice said.
2. The CBI, the bench said, has replied to the court’s questions, including about the challan that was missing in the last hearing. It is probing if the crime scene was compromised and evidence tampered with. “We have to give CBI adequate time, they are not sleeping. They are required to be given time to unearth the truth.”
3. The Chief Justice has said the victim’s father has made some suggestions and the CBI could look into them. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, said the agency will share updates with the victim’s family from time to time. “They have a right to know,” Mr Mehta said.
4. Noting that photographs of the rape-murder victim continue to be circulated on social media, the Supreme Court said the law does not allow this. The bench passed an order to address this and also directed Wikipedia to remove information about the victim’s identity.
5. The court said that the CBI has submitted that Kolkata Police gave them CCTV footage with a total duration of 27 minutes. Mr Sibal contested this and said the city police had shared 7-8 hours of footage. “We have given whatever we had.”
6. The developments in court come hours after a big win for the junior doctors protesting against the August 9 rape-murder incident and financial irregularities in the West Bengal health services.
7. Following a meeting with the junior doctors’ representatives, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced late last night that they had agreed to most of the doctors’ demands. She said Kolkata police chief Vineet Goyal had agreed to resign and Deputy Commissioner of Police, North, Abhishek Gupta would also be removed. The state government has also agreed to remove two senior health department officials.
8. The junior doctors have said that the state government accepting their demands was a big victory for the agitation that enters its 39th day today. They have, however, said they would rejoin duty only when the government acts on its assurances.
9. During the earlier hearing on September 9, the court had asked the protesting doctors to return to duty by the next day. The court had assured that no action would be taken against the protesting doctors if they joined duty by the deadline. Junior doctors in Kolkata, however, refused to return to duty and continued their agitation.
10. A postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar room of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on the morning of August 9. Medical examination confirmed rape. Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer frequenting the hospital, has been arrested for the heinous crime. The incident shook the nation and sparked massive protests.