The Supreme Court has deferred the suo motu hearing of the rape and murder case involving a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata to January 29, citing a shortage of time. The decision was announced during Wednesday’s session by a bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, which also noted the filing of three fresh applications related to the case.
The case, which involved the heinous crime committed on August 9 last year, had resulted in widespread national outrage and led to prolonged protests across West Bengal. The Kolkata trial court had recently sentenced the accused, Sanjay Roy, to life imprisonment until death on January 20.
Senior advocate Karuna Nandy, representing the Association of Junior and Senior Doctors, had raised the plea for an urgent hearing. The Supreme Court had initially taken suo motu cognizance of the matter last August, following reports of the trial and the circumstances surrounding the brutal crime.
In December, the Court had reviewed a status report from the CBI, expressing confidence that the trial would conclude within a month. The CBI had been conducting the trial on a day-to-day basis from Monday to Thursday at a special court in Sealdah.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court bench has tasked a court-appointed national task force (NTF) with developing recommendations and suggestions on preventing gender-based violence and enhancing safety protocols for doctors and medical staff. These recommendations are to be consolidated and reviewed by the NTF, with a comprehensive report to be submitted by the states and union territories in response to the NTF’s findings.
In the backdrop of the crime, the NTF in its report last November, advised against a separate central law for offences against healthcare professionals, suggesting that existing state laws were sufficient. The report highlighted that 24 states had already enacted laws to protect healthcare professionals.
