Citing paucity of time, the Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of the case initiated suo motu in connection with the rape and murder of a female doctor at Kolkata’s government RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on January 29. Postponed till.
Sanjay Roy, who was convicted in this case on Saturday, was sentenced to imprisonment till death by the Sealdah court on Monday.
For the first time, a petition filed on suo motu was to be heard by the Supreme Court after the conviction in the case of rape and murder of a doctor on August 9 last year.
This heinous crime spread outrage in the country and there were prolonged demonstrations in West Bengal.
Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. V. Vishwanathan’s bench on Wednesday said there was paucity of time and besides, three new applications have been filed in the case.
“We will consider it next Wednesday at 2 pm,” the Chief Justice said.
Senior advocate Karuna Nandi, on behalf of the junior and senior doctors’ association, mentioned the petition for hearing.
On December 10 last year, the Supreme Court had taken note of the status report of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and had expressed confidence that the hearing of the case would be completed within a month.
CBI had given information about the daily hearing from Monday to Thursday in the special CBI court located at Sealdah.
The bench had also directed the parties to share their recommendations and suggestions with the court-appointed National Task Force (NTF) on preventing gender-based violence and creating safety protocols for doctors and medical staff in hospitals across the country.
The bench had directed the NTF to file a report and said, “All recommendations and suggestions may be sent to the National Task Force and replies to the final report of the NTF may be filed by the states and union territories.”
The body of the postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the hospital’s seminar room on August 9 last year, following which Kolkata Police arrested Roy in connection with the crime the next day.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the case, the bench had constituted the NTF on August 20 to frame a protocol to ensure the safety of medical professionals in the wake of the crime.
The Calcutta High Court had handed over the investigation of the case to the CBI on August 13.
After this, the Supreme Court took over the monitoring of the case on August 19, 2024.
In October last year, the CBI had filed a charge sheet against Roy.
