CBI moves high court seeking death penalty for RG Kar convict

The CBI on Friday filed an appeal before the Calcutta High Court, seeking death penalty for RG Kar hospital rape-murder case convict Sanjay Roy.

A division bench, presided by Justice Debangsu Basak, said it would hear the CBI's appeal on January 27, along with a prayer by the West Bengal government seeking admission of its appeal with a similar plea.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) moved the bench, also comprising Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi, praying for hearing of its appeal on the claim of inadequacy of sentence given by a trial court to Roy.

Representing the CBI, Deputy Solicitor General Rajdeep Majumdar said the central agency, which investigated the case, had the right to challenge the lower court order before the high court on the grounds of inadequacy of sentence.

The Sealdah court on January 20 had sentenced Roy to life imprisonment till the end of his natural life for the rape and murder of the doctor on August 9, 2024.

The division bench on Wednesday had said it would hear the CBI, the victim's family and the convict through their lawyers before deciding on the admission of the appeal filed by the state government.

The CBI had opposed the state's right to file an appeal in the case, claiming that it was the prosecuting agency and had the right to prefer the appeal on the grounds of inadequacy of sentence.

Seeking capital punishment for Roy, state's Advocate General Kishore Dutta had stated before the court that the life sentence to the convict till death was inadequate.