R G Kar rape-murder case: Victim’s parents not in favour of death sentence for convict Sanjay Roy, claims counsel

Kolkata: On a day when both the West Bengal government and the CBI moved the Calcutta High Court for admission of their appeals seeking capital punishment for RG Kar hospital rape-murder convict Sanjay Roy, a counsel for the victim’s parents claimed that the family does not want death penalty for him.

Speaking to reporters outside the high court premises after hearing on the appeals concluded for the day, Gargi Goswami, the advocate on record for the victim’s parents, claimed they rather want the trial process of the other accused in the case to start without further delay.

“I have spoken to the parents of the victim multiple times. They are of the opinion that all those who are involved in the murder of their daughter need not be given capital punishment simply because they killed her. They want the highest punishment as awarded by the trial court to the convict to stay,” Goswami said.

“They also want the investigating agency to submit the chargesheet for the rest of the accused involved in this case as quickly as possible, and initiate their trial process without any further delay,” she added.

The parents, highlighting a host of questions in relation to the probe conducted in the ghastly crime as well as claiming involvement of a larger conspiracy alongside efforts to shield possible masterminds, have moved the Supreme Court for intervention. The apex court is likely to hear the matter on Wednesday.

On January 20, the Sealdah sessions court sentenced Roy, the sole convict in the rape and murder crime of an on-duty trainee doctor at RG Kar hospital on August 9 last year, to rigorous life imprisonment till the end of his natural life.

On Monday, a division bench of the high court, presided by Justice Debangsu Basak, heard both the state government and the CBI, who argued that the Sealdah court order was inadequate, and appealed for Roy’s death penalty while challenging the quantum of the sentence.

The CBI also argued in court that it reserved the right for appeal against the trial court judgment, and not the state, on grounds that it was the investigating and prosecuting agency in the case.

Appearing for the central agency, additional solicitor general S C Raju submitted that the state did not have any say in the investigation or the trial in the case, and had not even submitted any application before the sessions court seeking participation in the trial.

The high court kept its order in reserve after hearing both the sides in presence of the victim’s family.

“We want the severest punishment as envisaged in law to all those who were involved in the crime and were part of the larger conspiracy,” the victim’s father later told reporters.

Asked whether he still retained faith in the CBI, he said, “The Kolkata Police had let us down by conducting a probe full of loopholes. That’s why the high court handed over the investigation to the CBI. It is evident from the trial court judgement that the CBI, too, failed to do its job properly. We do not know who else to repose our faith on. We will keep our faith on whichever institution is able to deliver us proper justice.”

The CBI has submitted its initial chargesheet in the RG Kar hospital financial irregularities case in which former college principal Sandip Ghosh, who’s currently in jail, is a prime accused. The agency has informed the court that it may submit a supplementary chargesheet in the case.

Another accused in the RG Kar hospital chain of events, former officer in-charge of Tala police station, Abhijit Mondal, is currently out on bail. Mondal faces charges of serious misdemeanor and evidence tampering during the initial investigation conducted by the Kolkata Police.

Sources close to the family said the parents feel judicially executing Roy would mean vital information into the larger conspiracy behind the murder, that he may still be privy to, would be gone forever.

Keeping Roy alive would mean that if the Supreme Court is convinced with the need for a more thorough probe in the matter and passes relevant orders for the probe agency, then Roy can still be accessed for information, the sources said.

Responding to the parents’ remarks, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh said that “Left and ultra-Left forces have made spokespersons out of the family members by playing on their emotions”.

“These were the people who captured the streets of Kolkata demanding justice. How else can one interpret what the heart-broken parents are saying now, who are clearly speaking under influence of these Left and ultra-Left forces, despite knowing that the trial court has already held the convict guilty on all counts of the horrible crime he perpetrated on their daughter,” Ghosh said.