SC refuses to transfer R.G. Kar rape and murder case outside Bengal

Accused of RG Kar rape and murder case Sanjay Roy produced at Sealdah Court, in Kolkata on November 4, 2024. The Supreme Court said the case need not be transferred out of West Bengal.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Supreme Court on Thursday (November 7, 2024) refused to transfer the RG Kar murder and rape case outside West Bengal.

“Let the trial start. We will not shift the trial outside West Bengal. That will only cast doubts on our own judiciary,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

The court said this plea to shift the trial outside the State could even be construed as a ploy to delay or sidetrack the trial, scheduled to begin on a day to day basis from November 11.

“We do not want the trial to stop… We know there are factions which want the trial to stop,” the CJI observed.

The CJI said there were instances in the past, for example in Manipur, when the top court had shifted trials out of the particular State in question.

“But that is not required here,” the CJI said.

To submissions that there were more evidence to unearth and the conspiracy ran deeper than what was on the surface, Chief Justice Chandrachud said the Sessions Judge was a senior judicial officer who had the power to alter the charges.

The CJI said the Central agency had also made a point to clarify that the investigation was a “continuing” one.

“If there is more evidence, the CBI would file a supplementary chargesheet. The Supreme Court does not want to go into all that. The Sessions Judge would consider those aspects,” the CJI said.

The court conveyed that the CBI report has informed that the agency was conducting extensive investigation into allegations of financial irregularities in the case.

A Kolkata sessions court framed charges against the prime accused Sanjay Roy in the case of the rape and murder of a woman doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital earlier this year, on November 4, 2024. The court said that the trial in the case would start on a daily basis on November 11.