Rarest of the rare case: Ex-principal RG Kar Medical College may get the death penalty if proven guilty, says court

Denying the bail plea of former principal Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a designated Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Sep 25 observed that the nature and gravity of the accusation against Sandip Ghosh are grave and if proven, it may attract the death penalty, which is handed in the rarest of rare cases.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate S Dey said the court thinks “it would be injustice flouting the principle of equity to release the accused on bail,”.

The court while citing the case diary in its order expressed satisfaction that the process of investigation by the central probe agency is in full swing.

The Sealdah court also extended the CBI custody of Ghosh and the suspended police officer Abhijit Mondal till Sep 30, when their consent will be sought for narco-analysis and polygraph tests respectively, as appealed by the CBI.

The premier investigating agency arrested the two accused last month in connection with its probe into the brutal rape-murder of a woman doctor at a state-run hospital on Aug 9.

Dey in the order noted that a person may commit an offense with the help of others, and there is no need to be present for the other accused at the place of occurrence.

The CBI court rejected the bail prayer of Abhijit Mondal, an officer in charge of Tala police station arrested for alleged tampering of evidence and delay in filing of First Information Report (FIR) in the sensational case.

Ghosh's counsel claimed before the judge at Sealdah Court that he was falsely implicated in the case and there was no act on his part to commit the crime as alleged.

Pertinently, the woman doctor’s partially-clothed body was found with severe injuries in the seminar hall of the hospital last month.

The gruesome rape-murder triggered nationwide protests with doctors demanding capital punishment for the accused and enhanced safety for medical professionals at workplaces.