The Calcuta High Court has dismissed an appeal by the West Bengal government contesting the life sentence of Sanjay Roy, convicted in the high-profile rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Simultaneously, the court has accepted a plea from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the case’s primary investigative agency.
The division bench, including Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Sabbar Rashidi, ruled that only the CBI has the standing to challenge the sentence’s adequacy because it led the investigation. The state government had argued that it too could appeal the sentence given by the trial court, claiming it was insufficient.
The case stems from a tragic incident on August 9 last year, when an on-duty medic was brutally assaulted and murdered inside the seminar room of the hospital. Sanjay Roy, a former civil volunteer, was subsequently tried and convicted, receiving a sentence of life imprisonment until death.
This sentence sparked controversy and public outcry, with many expecting a death penalty for the heinous nature of the crime. However, during the sentencing, the additional judge of the Sealdah sessions court declared the crime did not fall into the “rarest of the rare” category, thus sparing Roy the death penalty.
Advocate Rehman, commenting on the case, explained that while the crime was severe, the court did not consider it met the stringent criteria required for capital punishment. The judge also ordered the state government to pay Rs. 17 lakhs in compensation to the victim’s family.
