The Calcutta High Court Wednesday said that it will hear the plea of the sole convict in the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case, Sanjoy Roy, for acquittal from the case.
A division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Md Sabbar Rashidi observed that the matter would be heard with the petition of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for capital punishment. The matter would be heard in September.
During the hearing, Sanjoy Roy’s counsel submitted, “With only witness statements and circumstantial evidence, one cannot be convicted for life. There is enough evidence to prove that the convict is innocent.”
Meanwhile, the CBI’s counsel submitted that they had moved Calcutta High Court challenging a trial court’s order on January 20 that sentenced Roy to life imprisonment.
The victim’s counsel submitted that they would like to be made a party in this case.
Roy had moved the HC on July 9 for acquittal, while both the state and the CBI had filed appeals for capital punishment for him in January.
In February, the HC had rejected the government’s appeal while admitting the CBI’s plea.
Story continues below this ad
The division bench observed that since the CBI conducted the investigation and was the prosecution agency, its appeal would be admitted.
An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered inside the seminar room of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 last year. Sanjoy Roy was arrested by the Kolkata Police the next day. The Calcutta HC later handed over the investigation to the CBI.
The central agency filed the charge sheet before the trial court on October 7 and the charge against Roy was framed on November 4.
