Victim’s Father Reacts to Calcutta HC Order Mandating Fresh CBI SIT to Probe RG Kar Lapses
Expressing conditional relief mixed with enduring frustration over the pace of justice, Sekharranjan Debnath—the father of the trainee doctor who was brutally raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital—has spoken out following a major judicial intervention. The Calcutta High Court ordered the immediate formation of a new, three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) within the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to re-investigate the critical hours surrounding the crime and subsequent evidence tampering.
Debnath’s remarks highlight the family’s deep-seated distrust toward the initial handling of the case by early investigators, which has now been validated by strict observations from both the trial court and the High Court.
“They Did Not Do Any Work”: Deploring Past Lapses
Reacting from his residence in North 24 Parganas, Sekharranjan Debnath emphasized that the High Court’s directive to form a fresh SIT confirms the family’s long-standing complaints about a compromised and sluggish investigation:
“…The High Court constituted the SIT. The CBI team, which was not working properly, was reprimanded by the court. The Sealdah court said they did not do any work. Now the High Court has said the same and formed a new SIT to investigate from the time my daughter had dinner to her cremation.
The earlier team could not track who ordered the demolition near the seminar room, who ordered the rushed cremation, or who exactly was involved in hushing up the case. We have been saying from day one that more than one person was involved. We hope this new special team will find the real culprits and unearth the larger conspiracy.”
Scope of the New High Court-Ordered SIT
The Division Bench comprising Justices Shampa Sarkar and Tirthankar Ghosh intervened following petitions filed by the victim’s parents, who expressed profound dissatisfaction with how ancillary leads were monitored after the primary convict, Sanjay Roy, was sentenced to life imprisonment till death.
- Retracing the Fateful Timeline: The court has ordered the newly formed SIT to systematically re-verify and retrace every single development over a specific, high-stakes window: from the exact moment the postgraduate trainee had dinner with her colleagues on August 9, 2024, to her hurried cremation the following evening.
- Led by High-Ranking Command: To guarantee absolute institutional accountability, the High Court directed that the three-member team will be explicitly headed by the CBI’s Joint Director for the Eastern Zone.
- Focus on Institutional “Hush-Up” Charges: The SIT’s mandate extends far beyond the physical act of the murder itself. It is explicitly directed to identify institutional lapses, probe the systemic destruction of forensic evidence, and investigate allegations that senior hospital administration and local police personnel actively sought to downplay the tragedy in its immediate aftermath.
Ongoing Legal Challenges and Timeline
While the trial court wrapped up its primary proceedings by sentencing former civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, the broader battle over the deep-rooted institutional conspiracy remains highly volatile. The High Court has granted the newly constituted CBI special team a strict window to conduct its initial sweeps, demanding a comprehensive, watertight progress report by June 25, when the division bench is scheduled to resume formal hearings.
