3 min readKolkataJul 10, 2025 06:05 AM IST
First published on: Jul 10, 2025 at 03:32 AM IST
The Calcutta High Court is likely to hear a petition filed by Sanjay Roy seeking acquittal in the RG Kar rape-murder case.
In January this year, a trial court in Sealdah sentenced Roy to life imprisonment “until his last breath” for the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run RG Kar College and Hospital.
Roy, a 35-year-old civic volunteer, was convicted under sections 64 (punishment for rape), 66 (punishment for causing death or a persistent vegetative state to a woman) and 101 (1) (murder) in a ruling that came five months after the August 9 incident sparked outrage and triggered massive protests of doctors in West Bengal.
Earlier this month, Kaushik Gupta, Roy’s counsel appointed by the High Court’s legal services, filed the plea before the Division Bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Prosenjit Biswas, claiming that his client was not guilty of the crime.
In January, both the West Bengal government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had moved the High Court, seeking capital punishment for Roy. In February, the High Court rejected the state government’s plea, while admitting the same of the CBI.
Sealdah court rejects parents’ plea for visiting crime scene
A Sealdah court on Wednesday rejected the plea of the junior doctor’s parents to allow their lawyer to visit the scene of crime, saying they can approach the High Court. Noting that the CBI did not raise any objection to the petition, the court observed: “…the accused and the state (government) are sailing on the same boat. Both opposed (the plea) vehemently.”
“This court has no authority to pass an order emotionally without following the procedure of law,” Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Arijit Mondal said, adding there is no provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that empowers the court to allow the petition.
The counsel representing the victim’s parents had stated before the court that it is required for them to visit the place of occurrence of crime, except the seminar room of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, on the ground of proper appreciation of the place of crime for analysíng the same, so that they may get complete justice.
The body of the on-duty post graduate trainee doctor was found in the seminar room of the hospital on August 9 last year.
The parents, through counsel Phiroze Edulji, had asked the Calcutta High Court to inspect the crime scene, excluding the seminar room.
R K Kar rape-murder Sanjay Roy leaves court after his sentencing in the case. (Express Photo: Partha Paul) 
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