Kolkata HC Rejects Bengal Govt’s Plea Seeking Death Penalty For RG Kar Convict, Know Why

Kolkata: The Calcutta HC on Friday rejected the West Bengal government’s plea seeking death penalty for Sanjay Roy, who was convicted for the rape and murder of a 31-year-old on-duty trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. However, the court admitted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plea for the same.

A bench of justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashid admitted the CBI plea against the lower court sentencing of Roy, a former civic volunteer.

Additional district and sessions judge Anirban Das on January 20 sentenced Roy to life imprisonment. The lower court underlined the case was not “rarest of the rare” to pronounce death sentence. The state government and the CBI separately moved the HC seeking the death penalty. The HC asked why two authorities approached the court with the same appeal, according to reports. However, the CBI argued that it carried out the entire investigation and hence only the Centre was authorised to sanction an appeal against the lower court’s order.

The state’s counsel submitted the Centre could appeal against orders in cases involving central agencies. He also stated that the state was also empowered to maintain an appeal in such cases. Roy was first arrested by Kolkata Police. But later his custody was handed over to the CBI on the high court’s orders on August 13 last year.

The lawyer of the deceased doctor told the court they do not want capital punishment just because they have lost their daughter. “They want all those involved in the crime to be brought to justice. They want the most stringent punishment,” said Gargi Goswami, the lawyer, as quoted by Hindustan Times.