NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition by Sandip Ghosh, former principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, claiming the Calcutta High Court could not have ordered the CBI probe into alleged financial irregularities without granting an opportunity of hearing to him.
The College was rocked by a horrific rape and murder of a PG doctor on August 9 and subsequent attack and vandalism of the premises on August 14. The incident has sparked countrywide outrage in a big embarassment to the Mamata Banerjee government.
Taking up a petition by Ghosh, a bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said possible accused can't claim locus in a PIL for probe into corruption in disposal of bio-medical waste.
The court noted both rape-murder and corruption were being investigated by CBI.
"Let CBI give us a status report," the bench said.
"As an accused you have no locus to intervene in a PIL, where the high court is monitoring the investigation or transferred the investigation to the CBI," the bench said.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for Ghosh, contended the two cases should be probed separately.
She said students’ went on strike. The High Court passed orders under which the students apologised and the classes resumed, she said.
There were two petitions filed on bio-medical waste, as PILs before the high court and both were dismissed. The third, present petition, under which this order was passed is filed by one Akhtar Ali, who was previously in charge on the administrative side in the same hospital and there was an inquiry conducted against him, against certain allegations made against his role, Arora said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the CBI, contended an accused can't dictate course of probe.
The bench also said even court can't direct the course of investigations.
Ghosh faced serious allegations of financial and administrative misconduct and mishandling the August 9 medicos rape and murder case.
He claimed that the High Court made a comment linking the incident of rape in the hospital to corruption unnecessarily, and without any basis and substance.
The High Court had on August 23 directed for a CBI probe into the alleged corruption charges against Ghosh.
Prima facie, there are serious violations and irregularities been seem to be committed by Ghosh, the High Court had said, favouring the CBI probe.
The Supreme Court had earlier taken Suo motu cognisance of the brutal and horrific incident of the rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee PG doctor. It had also questioned the state government's move to shift Ghosh from R G Kar College and Hospital and appoint him in another college after the incident sparked country wide outrage.
The court had then also questioned the delay in the registration of the FIR and inconsistencies in the timings regarding the entries for unnatural death of the victim.
In its status report, the CBI filed before the Supreme Court, said that the crime scene, at the R G Kar Medical and College Hospital, was altered.
The court had also noted the state police had told the parents that it was a suicide, but later on, said, it was a murder.
The bench had then also came down heavily over the state government over its failure to control the incident of vandalism on August 14.
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