RG Kar: CBI, Bengal govt lock horns over right to challenge trial court order

Both CBI and the West Bengal government want the sentence to the RG Kar case convict to be upgraded to death, but the argument is driven by procedural reasons -- as well as political ones

The federal investigation agency, Central Bureau of Investigation and the West Bengal government are engaged in a battle of words before the Calcutta high court over the right to challenge the life sentence awarded to Sanjat Roy for the rape and murder of a doctor in August last year.

CBI and the West Bengal government engaged in a battle of words before the Calcutta high court on Wednesday.

Both want the sentence to be upgraded to death, but the argument is driven by procedural reasons -- as well as political ones.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Calcutta high court on Wednesday that it was opposed to the West Bengal government’s appeal challenging the life imprisonment.

Speaking on condition of anonymity after Wednesday’s hearing, a CBI official said the agency will move the high court seeking death sentence for the convict.

“Technically, only the probe agency can file such an appeal,” the official said.

A state government lawyer said CBI’s lawyers told the division bench of justice Debangsu Basak and justice Md Shabbar Rashidi that the agency was opposed to the state govenrnment’s appeal challenging the punishment ordered on January 18 by Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge of Kolkata’s Sealdah court.

“CBI was made a party by the state in the latter’s appeal. The agency’s lawyers argued that only CBI has the right to accept or challenge the trial court’s order since it is the investigative agency. Countering this, state advocate general Kishore Dutta told the bench that it was Kolkata police that started the investigation and arrested Roy on August 10 before handing him over to CBI following the high court’s orders,” the lawyer said, requesting anonymity.

Roy, 34, a civic volunteer who worked for Kolkata police during the crime, was sentenced to jail for rest of life under Sections 66 (rape), 64 (causing injury resulting in death) and 103 (1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) by the Sealdah court.

After the verdict, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she was disappointed. The state’s Trinamool Congress government moved the Calcutta high court on Tuesday challenging the punishment and seeking death sentence for Roy who is lodged at Kolkata’s Presidency correctional home.

During Wednesday’s argument, the advocate general said although the central government files appeals in cases that are probed by federal agencies, the Bengal government can file an appeal in the RG Kar Hospital case since the crime was first investigated by the state.

CBI’s lawyers countered this by citing a Supreme Court judgement in the Bihar fodder scam case against Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Supreme Court held that a state was not authorized to file appeals in matters investigated by central agencies.

The advocate general countered this argument saying the RG Kar Hospital case was not originally registered by CBI but only transferred to the agency.

The case will be heard again on January 27. The bench directed the state government to make Roy and the victim’s parents parties in its appeal.

“We are not aware of the details of the state’s appeal,” the victim’s father said while Wednesday’s hearing was on.