Bengal moves High Court seeking death penalty for Sanjoy Roy
Kolkata: A day after Sanjoy Roy, accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, was awarded life sentence by the Sealdah Sessions Court, the state on Tuesday moved Calcutta High Court seeking capital punishment for him.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had expressed disappointment over the life sentence on Monday and wrote on X that the state shall be appealing for death sentence in appellate court.
Accordingly, the bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi of Calcutta High Court was moved by the Advocate General Kishore Datta on Tuesday. It was learnt that the court has admitted the matter which will be soon up for hearing.
However, questions were raised pertaining to the locus standi of the state in appealing for death sentence in the High Court since the trial court gave its verdict based on the investigation conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Persons from legal fraternity, requesting anonymity, said it is the CBI which has the locus standi in appealing against the trial court’s order and judgement as far as the sentencing is concerned.
A Millennium Post report published on Tuesday stated that the Sealdah Court judge gave the life sentence instead of death penalty based on the reasoning that the case was not ‘rarest of rare’. It did not fit the criteria set by the Supreme Court for awarding the death penalty. However, the CBI is of the opinion that the case is ‘rarest of rare’.
Expressing shock over the verdict, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a post on X on Monday stated: “In the R.G. Kar junior doctor’s rape and murder case, I am really shocked to see that the judgement of the Court today finds that it is not a Rarest of Rare case! I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement come to the conclusion that it is not a rarest of rare case?! We want and insist upon death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case.
Recently, in last 3/4 months, we have been able to ensure capital/ maximum punishment for convicts in such crimes.
Then, why, in this case, has capital punishment not been awarded? I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now.”
Meanwhile, the parents of the victim have squarely put the blame on CBI’s “shoddy probe” which failed to prove the case fits that category. According to them, the judge gave his verdict based on the case CBI presented to him. They said that their fight for justice is not over and the matter will go to higher courts. The parents held onto their ground that Roy was not the only accused in the rape and murder of their daughter. Recently, they had moved the Supreme Court for clarification on whether the Calcutta High Court can hear their plea for further probe into the matter.
