Kolkata, July 16
Hearing on the acquittal petition by civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, the accused in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case, will be heard at Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi from September this year.
Admitting the acquittal petition which was filed last week, the Division Bench of Justice Basak and Justice Rashidi said that the matter will be heard in September after being clubbed with the related matter where the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) approached the same Bench seeking death penalty for Sanjay Roy.
Earlier this year, a trial court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment after finding him the sole convict in the crime of rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises in August last year.
However, the CBI approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the trial court order and seeking death penalty for Sanjay Roy.
Last week, Sanjay Roy’s counsel moved the Division Bench of Justice Basak and Justice Rashidi with the acquittal petition, and the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday.
In his argument, Sanjay Roy’s counsel and senior advocate Kaushik Gupta submitted to the court that accusations against his client could not be proved based on the available evidence and witnesses and there were enough reasons for acquittal of his client.
On Wednesday, the Division Bench also observed that the parents of the victim, if they so desire, could cooperate with the court in the matter of the acquittal petition of Sanjay Roy.
The body of the junior doctor was recovered from a seminar hall within the hospital premises on the morning of August 9 last year.
Initially, Kolkata Police took over the investigation and arrested Sanjay Roy. Later the CBI took over the investigation in the matter following an order of the Calcutta High Court.
After a prolonged investigation, the CBI also identified him as the sole accused in the crime of rape and murder.
During the period of investigation, the CBI arrested the former principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former officer-incharge of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal station on charges of allegedly tampering with and altering the evidence in the case.
However, both Ghosh and Mondal were granted “default bail” by the trial court as the CBI failed to file supplementary charge sheets against both of them in the matter.
After a prolonged hearing in the matter for months, finally, the trial court first convicted Sanjay Roy of the crime of rape and murder and then sentenced him to life imprisonment in January this year.
