The West Bengal police were interrogated by the Supreme Court on Thursday about The RG Kar Rape and Murder Case, August 20, regarding the weaknesses in their inquiries into the August 9 rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata.

Hearing the Suo motu case pertaining to the terrifying incident, a bench made up of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra pointed out the discrepancies in the timing of the entries for Unnatural Death and the delay in filing the FIR.
The bench also voiced its disgust over the fact that, even though the body has been found early in the morning, the crime scene was not sealed until late at night.

The bench examined the status report uploaded by today.the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – which took over the investigation under the directions of the Calcutta High Court- and also the records submitted by the West Bengal Police.

After seeing the records, CJI DY Chandrachud posed to Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the State :

“Mr. Sibal, something is very disturbing. The GD entry in regard to unnatural death is recorded at 10.10 in the morning. So the Police Station is informed that there is an unnatural death. Notwithstanding all this, the securing of the crime scene, seizure etc. takes place at 11.30 at night? What was happening all by then?”

Sibal asserted that this was incorrect information and claimed that all proceedings were videographed. He requested the Court to see the chart prepared by the State showing the timeline of event.

“Just tell us, at what time the post-mortem was performed, as per your records?”, Justice Pardiwala asked.

“6.10 PM to 7.10 PM,” Sibal replied.

Justice Pardiwala then asked why the unnatural death(UD) case was registered at 23.30 hours. “This is very surprising, post-mortem precedes registration of the UD!,” Justice Pardiwala said.

Sibal responded that it was the FIR and the UD (Unnatural Death) case was recorded that day morning itself. UD was registered at 1.45 PM, Sibal replied. Justice Pardiwala then wondered how could both the records be “reconciled”.

Never seen such a procedure by police : SC

When Sibal was not able to give the exact time regarding the registration of the UD case, Justice Pardiwala asked him to ensure the presence of a responsible police officer on the next date of the hearing so that the Court could get the responses.

“The entire procedure which your police have followed, I have not come across in my thirty years…” Justice Pardiwala said.

Justice Pardiwala also questioned the conduct of the Assistant Superintendent (Non-Medical) saying that “her conduct was also very doubtful.”

CJI then read out from the case diary and stated that the UD Case was registered after the officer returned to the police station, after the cordoning off and preservation of the crime scene, which took place only after the post-mortem was performed.

Sibal, after checking the records, stated that the post-mortem report, inquest report, seizure list etc., has references to the earlier UD case.

a statement by India’s Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the General Diary Entry was made at 10:10 AM, the UD case was registered at 23:30 PM, and the FIR was then filed. According to CJI, GD 861, which is said to have been registered at 11.30 PM, was identified in the inquest report.

CJI asked how the report, which concluded the inquest at 4 PM, made reference to the GD case number that was originally registered later that evening.
One of the attorneys gave evidence during the hearing that the post-mortem mentioned 150 grams of semen. But CJI cut her off, stating, “Don’t use social media to make arguments, we have the actual autopsy report before us and we know what the 150 gm refers to..”.

During the afternoon session, Sibal declared that the police were handling unnatural death cases in keeping with the procedures outlined in the West Bengal police rules.
Although the body was found in the morning, the CJI stated that it is not going to excuse the FIR’s tardy registration at 11.30 PM. CJI questioned the hospital principal’s role as well.
“What is the reason (a) for FIR to be lodged 14 hours of delay; (b) the principal of the college should have supposed to come straight to the college and filed the FIR, whom is he protecting? (c) he had resigned and been assigned another college?,” CJI asked.

SG informed the Court that the CBI has submitted an application to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate(ACJM), Sealdah for allowing the polygraph test in the case. The Court directed the ACJM Sealdah to pass orders on CBI’s application by 5 PM tomorrow.

Directions passed today on The RG Kar rape and murder case

Afterwards, the bench issued an order stating that it had documented the status reports and documents provided by the West Bengal police and the CBI.
Considering certain worries expressed by the State about demonstrations turning violent, the Court made it clear that the government would be free to use its legal authority to control protests. The bench did add, though, that nonviolent protests should not be tampered with.
The bench also appealed to the doctors to return to duties and protected them from coercive actions for their absence due to protests till today.

The bench additionally declared that the National Task Force will take the resident physicians’ concerns into consideration when formulating its recommendations. The Court ordered the opening of a portal on the Ministry of Health’s website so that the NTF could consider the suggestions for improvement.

The Court directed the Secretary of the Union Health Ministry to consult with the Chief Secretaries of State and the Director General of Police to ensure the safety of doctors who wish to return to work. States have an obligation to take corrective action within two weeks of the meeting, which has been scheduled for next week.

The Court issued an order to all states and Union Territories preventing the fear of violence in healthcare establishments.
The matter will be next heard on September 5.

On the last hearing, the Court while concerning itself of the ‘systemic issues’ relating to the safety of medical professionals especially women doctors, constituted a “National Task Force” headed by Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin AVSM, VSM. Director General Medical Services (Navy) to give recommendations on the modalities to be followed all over the country to ensure the safety of medical professionals.

East Bengal and Mohan Bagan stand up against The RG Kar's rape and Murder case, forgetting former enmity.

Notably, in a related writ petition filed by two lawyers, the bench directed the immediate removal of all social media content including any references to the name or pictures and videos taken of the trainee doctor which were circulating online after the incident.