Three IPS officers, including a former city police commissioner, suspended by the BJP government in connection with the rape and murder of the junior doctor at RG Kar hospital, have been served with the list of charges detailing the allegations against them.
Sources in the state home department said the officers were provided with extensive documents containing the “article of charge” and supporting material outlining the accusations.
An “article of charge” is the formal list of charges framed against an officer.
The charges were framed based on a report submitted by Kolkata Police to the office of the state home secretary.
Vineet Goyal, who was the city police commissioner when the crime took place, Abhishek Gupta, the then deputy commissioner (north), under whose jurisdiction RG Kar fell, and Indira Mukherjee, the then deputy commissioner (central), were suspended on May 15.
Goyal has been charged with the alleged “mishandling of the case in the initial stage”.
Gupta is accused of offering a bribe to the slain doctor’s family. Mukherjee has been accused of briefing the media despite having no jurisdiction over the case and of displaying an “inappropriate attitude” while interacting with journalists.
Nabanna had sought details of the roles and responsibilities of the three IPS officers during the RG Kar crime. The charges were framed on the basis of the report submitted by Kolkata Police, sources said.
According to sources in the home department, the report mentioned the “roles” and “duties” assigned to the respective officers in August 2024 when the doctor was found dead in the seminar room of the emergency building of RG Kar.
The report compiled by joint commissioner (headquarters) Sudip Sarkar and joint commissioner (crime) Soma Das Mitra (who has now been transferred to another post) was sent to the home secretary’s office last week through the office of commissioner Ajay Nand.
“The disciplinary authority for IPS is home department. Response as such can only be given by HS. Our report was confidential,” police commissioner Ajay Nand wrote in response to a text message from Metro on Monday night.
According to the rulebook, the three suspended IPS officers are to prepare their defence countering the charges against them.
The officers are free toseek information from the home department that could help them prepare their defence before a formal departmental inquiry is initiated against them.
“The rules say that they will have to submit their defence in writing before the state home secretary within 30 days from the date of receiving the article of charge. After that, the departmental inquiry will start,” said an official posted in the home department.
Sources said the process of conducting a departmental inquiry is “time-consuming” and may take months or even years.