New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the investigation into the rape and murder of a female doctor working at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata is going on with utmost seriousness. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, presented the agency’s fifth status report before a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra. He said that a chargesheet in the case was filed against accused Sanjay Roy on October 7 and the Sealdah court has taken cognizance. The Supreme Court said that the CBI report revealed that the agency is also investigating the role of other persons. Is. Therefore the court has sought another status report within three weeks. On the issue of the National Task Force (NTF) set up to make recommendations on safety and security of medical professionals, the top court said it has not held any meeting since the first week of September. Therefore, the top court directed the Center to take proactive steps to ensure that the work is completed within a reasonable time frame.
NTF meetings should be held from time to time
The Supreme Court said that the meetings of the National Task Force should be held from time to time and all the sub groups should hold regular meetings. Along with this, the Center has been instructed to speed up the work of the National Task Force (NTF). The NTF was formed to make recommendations for the safety and security of medical professionals. The court said the NTF has not met since the first week of September and asked the Center to complete its recommendations within three weeks.
Reprimanded the state government
Expressing dissatisfaction over the progress made by the West Bengal government in installing CCTV cameras and constructing toilets and separate rest rooms in government medical colleges, the Supreme Court directed the state government to complete the work by October 15. At the same time, the lawyer of the parents of the deceased female doctor alleged that the civic volunteer who committed the crime was associated with the police posted at RG Kar Hospital and was living in the police barrack. The West Bengal government strongly opposed this claim. The Supreme Court asked the state government to give details of the recruitment process of civic volunteers.
Special instructions given to West Bengal government
The court also directed the West Bengal government, which is recruiting over 1,500 civilian volunteers for its ‘Ratire Sathi’ scheme, not to deploy these persons in hospitals or on any duty and in schools until further orders. The court restrained the state government from deploying civic volunteers in hospitals or schools until further orders. The state government was asked to provide information regarding recruitment of civic volunteers, antecedent verification and the institutions where they will be recruited. The Supreme Court had earlier expressed concern over the findings in the CBI status report but had refused to give details to avoid jeopardizing the ongoing investigation. The court had also raised questions over the disappearance of an important document related to the postmortem, the challan, from the records.
Let us inform you that the Supreme Court had expressed strong displeasure over the delay of Kolkata Police in registering the case of unnatural death of the female doctor and had raised questions on the sequence of events and the timing of the formalities. The Supreme Court had constituted a 10-member national task force to prepare a protocol to ensure the safety and security of doctors and other healthcare workers.