RG Kar case: Bengal Govt moves Calcutta HC seeking death penalty for convict

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted permission to the West Bengal government to file an appeal against the Sealdah court order that sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment until death in the RG Kar hospital doctor's rape and murder case.

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Advocate General Kishor Datta moved a division bench presided by Justice Debangsu Basak to file the appeal to seek death penalty of Roy, the sole convict in the case.

The state government sought the high court's permission to file the appeal challenging the order passed by Additional District and Sessions Judge in Sealdah, Anirban Das, on Monday.

The Sealdah court sentenced Roy to life imprisonment until death after he was convicted of raping and murdering the on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, rejecting demands for the death penalty saying it was not a “rarest of the rare” crime.

The court also ordered Roy to pay a Rs 50,000 fine and directed the state government to pay compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the deceased doctor.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the Sealdah court's verdict, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Monday asserted that had the case been handled by the Kolkata Police, the death penalty would have been ensured.

“All of us have demanded the death sentence, but the court has given a life term until death…The case was forcibly taken from us. Had it been with the (Kolkata) police, we would have ensured that he was served a death sentence,” she told reporters.

Later, posting on her X handle where she sounded more critical, Banerjee informed that the state government would challenge the Sealdah court verdict and move the Calcutta High Court.