E-Paper
RG Kar murder case: CBI to seek death penalty for convict Sanjay Roy in Calcutta high court
RG Kar murder case: The Sealdah court rejected CBI's plea seeking death penalty for Roy, saying the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the rare" category.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will file an appeal before the Calcutta high court, seeking death penalty for Sanjay Roy, who was sentenced to "life imprisonment until death" by a Sealdah court in the RG Kar rape and murder case, officials told PTI on Wednesday.
The agency received legal advice suggesting that the case may be categorised as the "rarest of rare", deserving capital punishment, officials added.
The CBI is likely to file the appeal against the Sealdah court order as soon as possible with detailed arguments in favour of capital punishment, they said.
Sealdah court rejected CBI's plea seeking death penalty
On Monday, additional district and sessions judge Anirban Das rejected CBI's plea seeking death penalty for Roy, saying that the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the rare" category.
"The CBI prayed for the death penalty. The defence lawyer prayed that a jail term be given instead of the death penalty. This crime does not fall under the 'rarest of the rare' category," PTI quoted the judge as saying.
"I am sentencing you to life imprisonment, meaning till the last day of your life, for causing injury during the act of committing rape on the victim that led to her death...," he told Roy.
ALSO READ: RG Kar murder case: ‘Ashamed of everything’, says convict Sanjay Roy's mother
The trainee doctor was raped and killed in the early hours of August 9 in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital when she had gone to rest during her graveyard shift.
The West Bengal government has already approached the high court, challenging the verdict and seeking death penalty for Roy.
The CBI has opposed the state's right to file an appeal in the case, claiming that as it was the prosecuting agency, it had the right to appeal on the grounds of inadequacy of the sentence.
ALSO READ: 'RG Kar case forcibly taken away from Kolkata Police': Mamata Banerjee ‘not satisfied’ with punishment for Sanjay Roy
Appearing for the CBI, Deputy Solicitor General Rajdeep Majumdar on Wednesday opposed the state's submission, maintaining that the West Bengal government does not have the right to appeal against the trial court's order on the ground of inadequacy.
He submitted that the CBI had prayed for awarding capital punishment to Roy before the trial court.
The high court said it would hear the CBI, the victim's family and the convict before deciding on the admission of the state government's appeal. The high court said it will hear the matter on January 27.
(With PTI inputs)
