The high court on Monday asked the parents of the slain RG Kar hospital junior doctor to explain why they wanted to visit the crime scene — a request for which they had moved court.
The division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi, while hearing the petition, sought a specific reason from the doctor’s parents for wanting to visit the seminar hall in the emergency building of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where their daughter was found raped and murdered on August 9 last year, according to lawyers representing the family.
The parents had first moved Justice Tirthankar Ghosh’s court, seeking permission to visit the location with their counsel. Justice Ghosh directed them to approach the Sealdah court, which had conducted the trial. The Sealdah court later rejected the plea.
The family then approached Justice Jay Sengupta of Calcutta High Court, who declined to hear the matter and directed them to return to the first court where they had filed the initial petition.
In June, the same prayer was made before Justice Ghosh once again. This time, he directed the parents to move the division bench of Justice Basak, where the appeal for a death sentence against the sole convict, Sanjoy Roy, is pending.
The division bench on Monday repeated its request for a reason behind the family’s wish to visit the scene.
“The court asked the petitioner to cite a valid reason as to why they wanted to visit the crime scene, even if they were not the investigating agency in this case,” said a lawyer.
The family is being represented by advocate Pheroze Edulji in the high court.
Earlier, during the hearing before Justice Ghosh, the CBI had not objected to the family’s request. However, the state government opposed the plea.
Last year, allegations of evidence tampering at the crime scene had emerged.
So far, one person has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Both the CBI and the state have challenged the verdict, seeking a harsher punishment. The matter remains pending before the high court.
