CBI intending to unearth ‘absolute truth’ of RG Kar incident — SC

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has been entrusted to investigate the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month, is intending to unearth “absolute truth” and “further truth”.

After perusal of the fresh status report of the CBI, a three-judge bench, headed by CJI D. Y. Chandrachud said, “We have looked at the status report of the CBI. Making a disclosure today about what the CBI is doing will jeopardize the course of the investigation. The line of further CBI investigation intends to unearth absolute truth and further truth. All of you know, apart from the principal, there has been an arrest of SHO himself. He is in custody of CBI and significant pieces of investigation would be revealed in the course of the investigation.”

The Bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said that the CBI has responded to issues raised in the course of the last hearing, including whether the challan was submitted in statutory form was submitted for carrying out post-mortem of the victim’s body and what other documents were submitted along with the form for postmortem.

 “Please rest assured, CBI apart from performing its own independent responsibilities, has also responded to the issues raised in the course of the last hearing,” it said.

The apex court stressed that the CBI must be given adequate time and any attempt to close the investigation within a time-bound manner will “dislocate” the purpose of the CBI probe.

 “We all are interested in ensuring a proper investigation to reach the ultimate truth, which is being carried out by the CBI,” said the CJI-led Bench.

The CBI on Saturday arrested Abhijit Mondal, the former officer-in-charge of the Tala Police Station, under the jurisdiction of which R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital comes, in connection with the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in the state-run hospital premises. Mondal was in charge of the police station when the body of the junior doctor was recovered from the seminar hall within the hospital premises on the morning of August 9.

Sandip Ghosh, the former Principal of R.G. Kar Hospital, who was earlier arrested by the CBI in the case of financial irregularities at the institution, and is currently in judicial custody, has also been shown as “arrested” in the rape and murder case.

In an earlier hearing, the SC told the CBI to file a fresh status report by September 17 and took on record the status report filed by the Central agency in terms of its previous order.

“We have now seen the further line of the ongoing investigation. We do not want to comment on anything in the open court. We will give you a week’s time to tell us what further leads have emerged in the course of the investigation,” it had said.

Taking suo moto cognisance of the rape and murder case of the trainee doctor at a Kolkata hospital, the Supreme Court had termed the incident “horrific,” which raises the “systemic issue of safety of doctors across the country”.

“We are deeply concerned with the fact that there is an absence of safe conditions of work for young doctors across the country, particularly, public hospitals,” it had said.

The top court ordered the formation of a National Task Force (NTF) to suggest measures for the security of medical professionals across the country, observing that the safety of doctors is the “highest national concern”.

Further, it asked the NTF, set up by the government on its direction, to give a hearing to diverse medical associations while formulating effective recommendations relating to the safety, working conditions and well-being of doctors and medical professionals.