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RG Kar rape case: From hospital’s cover up to why no death penalty for Sanjay Roy | Court’s 172-page judgement out
RG Kar rape case: In its verdict, the court reprimanded the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital authorities for trying to cover the murder as a “suicide.”
The Sealdah Sessions Court in Kolkata, West Bengal, released its 172-page judgment convicting and sentencing Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar doctor rape and murder case. In its verdict, the court reprimanded the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital authorities for attempting to cover up the murder as a "suicide".
The court also mentioned how the "police personnel of Tala" police station “kept everything behind a curtain.” The court also detailed why it didn't give convict Sanjay Roy the death penalty instead of life imprisonment.
A copy of the judgement was shared by Bar and Bench.
The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy, the convict in the RG Kar rape and murder case, to lifelong imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on the accused. The case pertains to the rape and murder of a 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor, whose body was found in a seminar hall on the third floor of the state-run RG Kar Hospital on August 9 last year.
Here are details of the judgement by Sealdah court:
RG Kar Hospital's cover up
The session's court reprimanded the attempts to cover up the incident by the hospital authorities. It stated the hospital authorities, led by former Principal Sandip Ghosh and MSVP, attempted to cover up the rape-murder incident to avoid liability.
"There is no doubt to consider that from the end of any authority, efforts were made to show the death as a suicidal one so that the hospital authority would not face any consequences," the judgement read. The court further noted that due to the protests that ensued, this "illegal dream" of the authorities could not be achieved.
"Being the court of law, I condemn such attitude of the RG Kar hospital authority," the judge said.
Lapses in probe by police
The court pointed to the role of two Sub-Inspectors of the jurisdictional Tala police station. It stated that they had committed "illegal acts" by registering the death of the victim as an unnatural death without any probe, even after the victim's father had approached them to file a complaint.
Sub-Inspector of Police (SI) Subrata Chatterjee’s witness testimony indicated that an August 9, 2024, General Diary (GD) entry made by him was ante-dated. The said GD entry about the doctor’s death, supposedly made by the SI, had a time stamp of 10.10 am — when he was not physically present at Tala PS, the court found.
"This evidence of one SI of police is an eye opener that police stations are treating the cases in a very indifferent manner…It is not understandable to me why the police personnel of Tala PS kept everything behind a curtain and why such type of illegal acts was done by the concerned officer of Tala PS," the court's judgement read.
The court also questioned why the police authority kept the parents of the victim waiting till 6.00 pm to lodge the complaint when the death was declared at 12.45 pm and the death certificate was received at Tala PS at 2.00 pm, the court said, citing evidence.
'ASI pampered accused'
The court said that it appeared from the evidence that the "accused was pampered by the ASI Anup Dutta and he gave him an unbridled power and the accused availed the benefit of the same and started a life which does not go with the lifestyle of any member of a disciplined force."
The court also criticised Inspector Rupali Mukherjee. “Her action of taking the mobile from the accused on 09.08.2024 and keeping it at Tala PS unattended is very curious one...It is fact that from the evidence it was not established that she had done it with any ulterior motive or that she had tampered the data of the mobile of the accused.”
Why no death penalty for Sanjay Roy?
The court said that although the crime was brutal and barbaric, this was not a case where the death penalty could be imposed as it did not fall in the category of “rarest of the rare.”
The court noted that it had to consider mitigating factors, including that there was no evidence of Sanjay Roy having any prior criminal history.
The judge explained that courts cannot be swayed by public pressure or emotional appeals while sentencing.
“The judiciary's primary responsibility is to uphold the rule of law and ensure justice based on evidence, not public sentiment. It is of prime importance that the court maintain its objectivity and impartiality by focusing solely on the facts and evidence presented during the trial, rather than being swayed by public opinion or emotional reactions to the case,” the judgment read.
It added that in the realm of modern justice, one has to rise above primitive considerations such as “an eye for an eye,” a “tooth for a tooth,” or a “life for a life.”
"When ingratitude is shown instead of gratitude by “killing” a member of the community which protects the murderer himself from being killed, or when the community feels that for the sake of self-preservation the killer has to be killed, the community may well withdraw the protection by sanctioning the death penalty. But the community will not do so in every case. It may do so “in rarest of rare cases” when its collective conscience," the court said.
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Business NewsNewsIndiaRG Kar rape case: From hospital’s cover up to why no death penalty for Sanjay Roy | Court’s 172-page judgement out
First Published:21 Jan 2025, 11:37 AM IST
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