Supreme Court to resume hearing on RG Kar rape-murder case today

A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will resume hearing a day after massive torch relays were held in various parts of Kolkata that has witnessed widespread protests over the incident for more than a month.

The West Bengal junior doctors, who called off their more-than-a-month-long ceasework after the government met a few of their demands and assured to fulfill the rest, have again threatened to suspend their services claiming the State took no step to keep their promises.

"We are keeping an eye on the Supreme Court hearing. After the hearing, we will take a call on ceasework and wider movement," one of the junior doctors said.

The junior doctors claim the government is yet to take a step on removing certain health officials, end threat culture and provide security to the protesters.

Though Kolkata Police was quick to arrest civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy in connection with the incident, West Bengal junior doctors suspect there are more than one behind the incident.

The case is currently being probed by the CBI under the monitoring of the Supreme Court.

The CBI has arrested ex-RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, who was already in custody for alleged financial irregularities in the hospital, and a cop in connection with the case.

Prior to CBI's investigation, the state administration came under the scanner over its alleged cover-up, delay in filing FIRs, demolition work near the crime scene, posting of Ghosh to the same post at another college after his resignation from RG Kar.

In its third hearing, the Supreme Court had said the status report of the RG Kar case provided by the CBI is "worse" and "really disturbing" stating the probe agency will be given time "to unearth the truth".

"What the CBI has revealed in the report is worse, really disturbing..What you are flagging is of utmost concern, we ourselves are concerned, CBI has flagged it for us..we are ourselves disturbed by what we have read," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.

A three-judge bench led by the CJI said the CBI is not "sleeping over" the probe and the investigating agency has responded to the issues that the court has flagged.

The CJI had said as quoted by Live Law, "Making a disclosure today of what the CBI is investigating will jeopardise the process, the line which is taken by the CBI is to unearth the truth.. the SHO himself has been arrested... CBI has responded specifically to the issues we have raised, including whether the challan in the statutory form was submitted along with the postmortem...

"CBI is also exploring the possibility of whether the scene of the crime was tampered with, evidence was destroyed, whether there was the complicity of other persons in failing to report the crime etc..."

"The CBI, apart from performing its independent investigation, is also addressing the issues we raised. There is still time to complete the investigation. We have to give CBI adequate time, they are not sleeping over. To put any time limit will be to dislocate the investigation...They are required to be given time to unearth the truth," the CJI added.