The Central Bureau of Investigation – the probe agency in Kolkata’s RG Kar rape and murder case – has approached the Calcutta High Court seeking the death penalty for the convict, Sanjay Roy, who was handed life imprisonment by the lower court in the case.
Earlier this morning, the CBI told the high court that West Bengal’s petition seeking the death penalty for the convict is not maintainable. The central probe agency is under fire from the Mamata Banerjee-led government over its investigation in the case. It saw massive protests in the state and outside, leading to a standoff between the Trinamool government and doctors in Kolkata.
Read more: In High Court, Bengal Seeks Death For RG Kar Rape Convict, But CBI Says…
The lower court yielded insufficient material to warrant the death penalty for the convict. The CBI then told the high court that only the union government, or itself, could appeal the inadequacy of the sentence in this case and not the state government.
Meanwhile, the Bengal government expressed strong disappointment over the court ruling in the case. “When someone is a demon… can the society be human? Sometimes they get out after a few years. If someone commits a crime, should we forgive them? If someone commits a crime and gets away, he will do it again. Our job is not to protect them,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raged.
Roy was found guilty on charges of rape and murder. The trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Justice Anirban Das said the crime was “particularly heinous”, but the sentencing must heed principles of reformative justice and the sanctity of human life.
Justice Das also noted the CBI had failed to provide sufficient evidence to convince him this was a ‘rarest of rare’ case, and so warranted the death penalty for Sanjay Roy.
Supreme Court’s Suo Moto Cognisance
The Supreme Court is slated to hear the matter where it took suo moto cognisance of the case. A bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan will resume hearing the case today.
In an earlier hearing held in November 2024, the Supreme Court had remarked that it would not pass any direction to transfer the trial of the ghastly rape and murder case outside West Bengal. A bench, headed by then CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, turned down the oral prayer made by a lawyer seeking transfer of trial outside West Bengal.
