The high court on Wednesday directed the city police commissioner to appoint an officer to investigate the alleged assault on the mother of the slain RG Kar doctor during a protest march to the state secretariat Nabanna last month.

The protest marked one year since the rape and murder of the junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

The rally, led by BJP leaders and attended by the doctor’s parents, changed its planned route, prompting police to push back the crowd. During the clash, the doctor’s mother suffered a forehead injury and filed a writ petition a few days later, alleging police excesses.

The mother’s petition alleged the police struck her while the rally was moving from Esplanade to Park Street, seeking justice for her daughter.

Justice Tirthankar Ghosh issued the directive during the hearing of the petition.

State counsel Suman Sengupta submitted inquiry reports from Shakespeare Sarani and New Market police stations. However, the judge expressed dissatisfaction with both.

“The medical report from Manipal Hospitals is different. Why so? Why did both police stations refuse to lodge the petitioner’s FIR?” Justice Ghosh asked.

“The court is directing the Kolkata Police commissioner to appoint an officer not below the rank of deputy commissioner to find out whether the petitioner had violated the law and if so, whether police action, including lathi charge, was justified,” he said.

The judge added that if the officer’s report finds the petitioner guilty of breaking the law, the police must initiate legal proceedings by lodging an FIR. Otherwise, the court will intervene.

The family’s counsel, Phiroze Edulji, had alleged that the police unnecessarily lathi-charged the woman, causing a serious injury to her forehead, and that the two police stations refused to register her complaint.

At the hearing, state counsel Sengupta submitted the reports of the police stations and said “inquiry was conducted based on the hospital’s report.” He claimed the injury was minor.

Justice Ghosh studied the hospital report and said: “The court felt the inquiry conducted by both police stations was not appropriate.”