The Supreme Court resumed on Tuesday hearing the suo motu matter in the rape and murder case of an on-duty trainee doctor in state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
At the outset of hearing, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for West Bengal government requested the top court to stop the live-streaming in the case as they are recieving threats of “acid attack.” He said that its not like they are appearing for the accused, yet they are facing such threats. Sibal further told the court that women lawyers in his chamber were recieving rape threats.
“What happens when you livestream matters like this which has huge immotive implications…we are not representing the accused, we have 50 years of reputation!…it’s also about our reputation! where was I laughing? this is not fair! It spreads to the women in our chamber.” Sibal told the court.
However, the CJI DY Chandrachud led bench said that it is a matter of public interest and emphasised that it is an open court.
CJI Chandrachud further said that the court will take care of any threats, but refuesd to stop the live streaming of the case.
The Supreme Court in the previous hearing had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a fresh report in the Kolkata rape-murder case after the central probe agency raised suspicion over the forensic report in the case. Today, the CBI filed a confidential status report on the progress of investigation into the case to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. In addition to the rape and murder, the CBI is also investigating former principal of RG Kar Sandip Ghosh and others in relation to the crime and alleged financial irregularities in the hospital under their watch.
In the last hearing, SG Tushar Mehta appearing for the CBI said that they are planning to send the samples for fresh examination to AIIMS Delhi and other CFSLs. SG Mehta said that “who took the samples” has emerged as a relevant question.
“We have a forensic examination report and one thing is admitted that when the girl was found at 9:30 AM, her jeans and undergarments were removed and lying nearby… semi-nude and injury marks were also found on the body…they have taken samples. They were sent to CFSL in West Bengal. Look at the results…the CBI has taken a decision to send the sample to AIIMS and some other lab,” SG Mehta said.
Without disclosing much about the investigation, the CBI flagged the findings of the Central Forensic Science Lab (CFSL) report in Kolkata. The Supreme Court had also raised a question over a missing autopsy challan in the previous hearing.
After going through the fresh status report by CBI filed today, the court refrained from saying anything on the investigation. The top court said that making any disclosure on what the CBI is investigating will jeopardise the process, and said that the line which is taken by the CBI is to unearth the truth.