The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will request the High Court to give death penalty to Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape and murder case. A subordinate court in Sealdah had sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment in the case of murder of a female doctor after rape at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Officials said the CBI has received legal advice that the case can be classified as the “rarest of the rare” category and death penalty is appropriate for the culprit. He said that the CBI is likely to file an appeal with detailed arguments against the Sealdah court order as soon as possible and request for death penalty for the convict.
The subordinate court had rejected the CBI’s request to give death penalty to Roy. Sealdah Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das had said in his judgment that this crime does not fall in the ‘rarest of the rare’ category.
While sentencing Roy on Monday, Judge Das had said, “CBI requested for death penalty.” The defense lawyer prayed that jail sentence be given instead of death penalty. This crime does not fall in the ‘rarest of the rare’ category.
Judge Das had told Roy, “For the injuries you caused to the victim during the act of rape which resulted in her death, I am sentencing you to remain behind bars till the last day of your life.”
The West Bengal government has already approached the High Court challenging the subordinate court’s decision and seeking death penalty for Roy. The CBI has opposed the state’s right to appeal in the case, claiming that since it (CBI) is the prosecuting agency, hence only it has the right to appeal on the basis of inadequacy of the punishment.
Deputy Solicitor General Rajdeep Majumdar, appearing for the CBI, on Wednesday opposed the state government’s move and said that the West Bengal government does not have the right to appeal against the order of a subordinate court on the grounds of inadequacy of punishment.
Majumdar said that the CBI had requested before the subordinate court to give death penalty to Roy. The High Court said that before taking a decision on accepting or not the appeal of the state government, it will hear the CBI, the family of the deceased doctor and the convict. The High Court said that it will hear the matter on January 27.
The trainee doctor was raped and murdered in the early hours of August 9 in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. On the basis of CCTV footage, citizen volunteer Sanjay Roy was arrested the very next day. In CCTV, he was seen entering the seminar hall at 4:03 am on the day of the incident.
On August 13, the Calcutta High Court had ordered to hand over the case from Kolkata Police to CBI. The central agency took over the case on August 14.
