BREAKING | "Failure Of State Machinery": Calcutta High Court Questions Lack Of Security Measures To Curb Vandalism At RG Kar Hospital

In a breaking development, the Calcutta High Court has questioned the lack of preventive measures to curb the large-scale vandalism and violence which occurred at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata on the night of 14th August.The State submitted that the police put up resistance, but were overwhelmed by the 5000-7000 strong mob who broke through barriers and inured several policemen.In noting that such large-scale violence pointed towards a lack of obtaining intelligence by police authorities, a division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya orally exclaimed:Normally the police always have an intelligence wing. Similar things happened on Hanuman Jayanti. If 7,000 people were to gather, it would be hard to believe that the state police did not know. You pass S.144 CrPC orders for any reason, but when so much commotion is going on, you should have cordoned off the entire area. This is an absolute failure of state machinery. Could this vandalism have been prevented is the question. Who did it comes later. What is the reason for breaking all facilities? It can never be understood...The police are also injured. Therefore had the law and order failed? Something is required to inspire our confidence."In its order, the Court noted that although the place of occurrence of the crime was saved from the attack, it would be imperative to provide safety to the doctors and nurses working in the hospital to ensure that they were able to carry out their duties with a sense of security. It held:In our view, the police should place on record the entire sequence of events leading to the incident. What is more important is that the doctors working in the hospital, who are presently protesting have to be given adequate protection to discharge their duties. We had earlier reminded doctors of their obligation to treat patients. However, this incident would definitely impact their mindset.BackgroundRG Kar hospital has been the scene of a gruesome rape and murder of a 2nd Year PG medical student, last week, leading to mammoth protests across the country. The High Court had transferred the probe into the doctor's rape and murder to the CBI, which had just begun its investigation a day before the vandalism occurred. The High Court transferred the investigation into the gruesome incident to the CBI, upon noting that the state police had not been proactive in the investigation of the incident and the state administration was not "with the victim or her parents."A division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya were hearing multiple pleas, including one by the parents of the victim seeking transfer of investigation to an independent agency. In expressing concerns over the progress of the investigation under the state police.After a preliminary investigation, the Kolkata Police had arrested a 'civic volunteer' who worked with the local police force. This arrest has been termed as a cover-up, with the counsel claiming that the state police's investigation had been faulty and they were trying to make a scapegoat out of the accused in an attempt to cover up the real facts.The parents of the deceased were represented by Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who submitted that they initially received a phone call claiming that she had fallen sick and upon reaching the college were told that she had committed suicide, but were not allowed to see her body for up to three hours while waiting there.It was submitted that when they saw her body for identification, they were convinced that the incident could not have been a suicide due to the gruesome nature of the injuries. The senior counsel prayed that the matter be immediately transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since crucial evidence could be destroyed with the passage of time.The court expressed concern over the fact that the case was registered by the police as an unnatural death and remarked that the principal or authorities of the college had not done anything in their power to aid in the probe. It thus directed for the principal to be placed on indefinite leave till further orders.In noting that a report could be called for by the state police under normal circumstances, the court noted the peculiar nature of the facts in this case and acceded to the parents' prayer that any further delay would lead to the destruction of evidence.

BREAKING | "Failure Of State Machinery": Calcutta High Court Questions Lack Of Security Measures To Curb Vandalism At RG Kar Hospital

Srinjoy Das

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