Calcutta High Court

Parents of RG Kar hospital doctor move Calcutta HC seeking fresh probe

The parents of the doctor who was raped and murdered at the RG Kar hospital moved the Calcutta High Court on Thursday, seeking a fresh investigation into the crime. Expressing a lack of confidence in the ongoing probe into the incident that led to huge protests, they prayed for a direction for a fresh investigation into the rape and murder of their daughter. Justice Tirthankar Ghosh asked their lawyer to add the CBI, which is probing the case, as a party in the petition and mention the matter again before the court on Monday. The on-duty postgraduate trainee doctor's body was found in the seminar room of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The Sealdah court on December 13 granted bail to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital ex-principal Sandip Ghosh and Tala police station's officer-in-charge Abhijit Mondal in the case. They were granted bail as the CBI failed to file charge sheets against them within the 90-day statutory period, according to their lawyers. While

SC adjourns hearing on Partha Chatterjee's plea in cash-for-jobs scam

A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan adjourned the hearing observing that it has to go through the files relating to custody being served by Chatterjee

Promotion effective only after assuming duty, not from date of vacancy: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday underlined that promotion only becomes effective upon assumption of duties and not from the date of the vacancy or recommendation. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta said it was a well-settled principle that promotion became effective from the date it was granted and not the date of the vacancy or creation of the post. "While the courts have recognised the right to be considered for promotion as not only a statutory right but also a fundamental right, there is no fundamental right to promotion itself," the bench said. The apex court delivered its verdict on an appeal filed by the West Bengal government and others challenging a February 2023 judgement of the Calcutta High Court. The high court upheld an order of the West Bengal Administrative Tribunal which directed that a man, though not entitled to retrospective promotion after his superannuation, should be awarded notional financial benefits for the promotional post of chief scienti

RG Kar case protests: SC orders SIT probe into custodial torture case

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an SIT investigation into the alleged torture of a woman in police custody following her arrest over protests against the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Observing not everything could be transferred to the CBI, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan modified the Calcutta High Court order ordering a CBI probe and said senior IPS officers of the state need to be entrusted with the investigation. The top court said the SIT, which will comprise officers, whose names were submitted by the state, shall submit its report on the progress of the investigation on weekly basis to the high court. The Calcutta High Court chief justice was directed to constitute a special bench before which the SIT would submit its report besides seeking further investigation. On November 11, the top court stayed the October 8 order of the high court directing a CBI probe while asking the state government to submit a li

Cal HC delivers split verdict on bail plea to Partha Chatterjee, 4 others

A two-judge division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday delivered a split verdict on a bail petition moved by former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and four other high-profile accused, indicted by the CBI in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam. While Justice Arijit Banerjee approved the bail of all the 10 accused who appealed before the bench, Justice Apurba Sinha Roy decided against granting bail to Chatterjee and four other former education department officials Subiresh Bhattacharya, Ashok Saha, Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay and Shanti Prasad Sinha. Bhattacharya served as the erstwhile state SSC chairman and, subsequently, as vice-chancellor of North Bengal University, while Saha acted as the former assistant secretary to the commission during the time period of the scam. Gangopadhyay was president of the state secondary education board during the period, and Sinha is the former advisor to the state SSC. The corruption, which has run into .

Separate yardsticks can't be applied to different accused, says SC

The state government cannot be permitted to apply different yardsticks for different accused, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday while granting bail to a man in a criminal case lodged in West Bengal. The apex court noted the state does not propose to challenge the order granting anticipatory bail to four other co-accused in the case, though the court had given suggestions in that regard. "On the other hand, the state government is opposing the application for grant of bail of an accused, who has been incarcerated in jail for a period of about one year and two months," a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said. "The state government cannot be permitted to apply different yardsticks for different accused," it said. The top court was dealing with a plea filed by a man, who had challenged the Calcutta High Court's July this year order dismissing his application seeking regular bail in the case lodged in October 2023. The bench noted that in its September 19 order passed

HC upholds arbitral award in favour of R-Infra in judgement on DVC petition

The arbitration award is worth approximately Rs 780 crore, including accrued interest, and bank guarantees of Rs 600 crore will also be released

WB school jobs row: SC to hear pleas challenging HC verdict on Sept 24

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear on September 24 the pleas of the West Bengal government and others challenging a Calcutta High Court order that invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in state government and aided schools. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it may not be able to hear the batch of pleas, listed on Tuesday, due to the hearing of some other matters during the day. "We will list it on September 24," the CJI said. Earlier, the top court had said that it will hear the pleas on September 10 and granted last opportunity to the parties to file their responses to the petitions by August 16. The bench had also asked the nodal counsel -- Astha Sharma, who represents the state government, and Shalini Kaul, Partha Chatterjee and Shekhar Kumar-- to prepare a common compilation of the records in electronic form and ensure that the judgments cited by the parties were part of

Medic rape-murder case: SC urges doctors to return to work by 5 on Tuesday

The Supreme Court on Monday commenced hearing a suo motu case related to the rape and murder of a postgraduate medic at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is hearing the matter. On August 22, the apex court had tore into the Kolkata Police over the delay in registering the unnatural death of the woman doctor, who was raped and killed at the RG Kar Hospital, calling it "extremely disturbing", and questioned the sequence of events and the timing of its procedural formalities. The top court had earlier constituted a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other health care professionals. Terming the incident as "horrific", the apex court had excoriated the state government over the delay in filing the FIR and allowing thousands of people to vandalise the state-run facility. The alleged rape and murder of th

HC seeks CBI report on nasty social media posts on medic rape-murder victim

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the CBI to file a report by September 18 on detestable posts being made on social media regarding the rape-murder victim of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. The court noted that nasty comments, which are far from being acceptable to any member of the society, have been made with the photograph of the victim as found in the copies of the offending posts provided by the petitioner. The body of the on-duty trainee doctor was found in the seminar room of the state-run hospital on August 9, triggering nationwide outrage. The CBI is investigating the case from the second week of August on an order of the high court. The petitioner prayed in the PIL that the CBI be directed to investigate the cyber offences in connection with the "unfortunate and brutal incident." The court asked the Additional Solicitor General Asok Kumar Chakrabarti, representing the central agency, whether it could find a way to block these types of posts. The division

Kolkata rape-murder: Calcutta HC dismisses PIL against BJP's 'Bangla Bandh'

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea against the 12-hour 'Bangla Bandh' called by the BJP since the petitioner was debarred perpetually from filing public interest litigations (PIL) before the court in a previous order. Petitioner Sanjoy Das, who claimed to be a lawyer practising at the high court, sought that the bandh be declared illegal. A division bench, presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, dismissed the PIL, as the court in its previous order perpetually debarred Das from presenting any PIL. The bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, in that order rejected Das's PIL, where it held that he had made false statements about himself in that petition, seeking a change of roster of a particular judge presiding over police inaction/overaction matters. The bench also imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on Das in connection with that petition. Maintaining that the petitioner has abused the process of this court, attempted to intimidate the office of the ch

Doc rape-murder: SIT gives hospital's financial irregularities docs to CBI

On Friday, the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigation of financial irregularities involving Ghosh, previously handled by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), to the CBI

Doctor murder: Cal HC adjourns hearing PILs since SC siezed of matter

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday adjourned till September 4 the joint hearing of several PILs over the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in Kar Medical College and Hospital and vandalism by miscreants at the institution since the Supreme Court is already seized of the matter. Amid spiralling nationwide protests over the rape and murder of the trainee doctor at the hospital, the apex court on Tuesday constituted a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other healthcare professionals. The SC also asked the CBI and the West Bengal government to file status reports on August 22, on the progress of their separate investigations into the alleged rape and murder of the woman postgraduate trainee doctor at Kar Medical College and Hospital and the August 15 vandalism and violence there respectively. A division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam said that since the Apex Court orders on the issue covered

SC overturns Calcutta HC verdict, slams remarks on girls' 'sexual urges'

Supreme Court set aside Calcutta High Court's controversial ruling advising girls to control 'sexual urges' and restored conviction in Pocso rape case

Absolute failure of state machinery: Cal HC on vandalism at RG Kar hospital

The Calcutta High Court on Friday observed that mob violence at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital was an absolute failure of state machinery in West Bengal. The court directed the police and the hospital authority to file affidavits on the incident. A division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam said it was hard to believe that the police intelligence did not have information about the gathering of 7,000 people at the health facility when the state's lawyer told the court that a mob of such number had assembled at the hospital in the early hours of Thursday. The court directed the police and the administrator of the hospital to file two separate affidavits narrating the true state of affairs and all connected matters on the next hearing date on August 21. The bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, said the police should place on record the entire sequence of events that led to the vandalism in the hospital. The investigating team of CBI was also .

RG Kar Hospital vandalism: HC fumes at Mamata govt; CBI to probe mob attack

Kolkata doctor's death: The court criticised the Mamata Banerjee government, questioning how a mob of 7,000 could breach the RG Kar Hospital on August 15 without it being a state failure

CBI takes over investigation into Kolkata doctor's rape-murder case

Officials from Delhi along with forensic scientists to reach Bengal's capital today

Doctor death: Why was the case not lodged as murder, HC asks Bengal govt

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked why a murder case was not registered at the outset and an unnatural death case was initiated into the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here. Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam put forth the question to the West Bengal government lawyer when he claimed that an unnatural death case was registered, as there is no immediate complaint of murder. The division bench presided by the Chief Justice said the body of the postgraduate trainee was not found on the roadside, and the superintendent or the principal of the hospital could have filed the complaint. The body of the doctor, who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the RG Kar hospital, was found on Friday morning. A civic volunteer was arrested in this connection on Saturday. The Chief Justice also said the murder was so gruesome that the doctors and interns were justified in venting their anguish. Junior doctors and intern

Cal HC to hear PIL seeking CBI probe into doctor's rape and murder case

A PIL seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor at Kar Medical College and Hospital will be heard by the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday. The body of the woman doctor was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital in north Kolkata on Friday. A preliminary autopsy report has indicated sexual abuse before she was killed. The petition, along with some other petitions with similar prayers, will be heard on Tuesday, a division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam directed on Monday. The petitioner's counsel prayed for transfer of investigation into the gruesome murder of the woman postgraduate trainee, who was also allegedly raped, at the state-run Kar Medical College and Hospital to the CBI from the city police. Counsel Phiroze Edulji alleged that a faulty investigation was being carried out by the police and submitted before the division bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, that he will place arguments before the court

SC collegium suggests extending tenure of 9 judges of Calcutta HC for a yr

The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Wednesday recommended to the Centre that the term of nine additional judges of the Calcutta High Court be extended by one year. Besides the CJI, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai are part of the collegium which decide the names for high court judgeship. The collegium did not recommend the names of the judges for appointment as permanent judges of the high court at this stage. "The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of Shri Justices (i) Biswaroop Chowdhury, (ii) Partha Sarathi Sen, (iii) Prasenjit Biswas, (iv) Uday Kumar, (v) Ajay Kumar Gupta, (vi) Supratim Bhattacharya, (vii) Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, (viii) Apurba Sinha Ray, and (ix) Md. Shabbar Rashidi, Additional Judges of the High Court at Calcutta, for appointment as Additional Judges for a fresh term of one year," the apex court said in its resolution. The resolution said the high court collegium, on April 29, had unanimously recommende