Cal HC to hear CBI appeal for a death penalty of Sanjoy Roy

Kolkata: Calcutta High Court has accepted the application of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an appeal for the death sentence of RG Kar rape and murder accused Sanjoy Roy.

The division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi said the matter will be heard on January 27 when the court will also hear the state’s appeal for the death sentence of Roy.

CBI moved the court after the trial court gave a life sentence to Roy observing that it was not a ‘rarest of rare’ case. The investigating agency had asked for the death penalty.

Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Rajdeep Majumdar representing CBI is learnt to have said the Central agency, which investigated the case, has the right to challenge the lower court order before the high court on the ground of inadequacy of sentence.

In the last hearing, the CBI had opposed the state’s stance, questioning the latter’s locus standi in bringing such an appeal. It was submitted that the state could not have brought such an appeal since it is only the CBI, or the victim’s parents, or the accused himself who can challenge the trial court judgement.

The state cannot independently make such an appeal. The CBI counsel had also cited the case of Lalu Prasad Yadav where, according to him, the state’s appeal was rejected by the high court.

Representing the state, Advocate General Kishore Datta and the Public Prosecutor Debashish Roy had argued that the Lalu Prasad case cannot be compared with this one since in that case the high court had given all the corruption cases to CBI for probe. But in RG Kar it was the state which had first initiated the probe before it was transferred to CBI. State counsels also cited CrPC 377 and 378, arguing it gives the state the right to appeal against the life sentence.

The Sealdah Court had on January 20 sentenced Roy to life imprisonment till the end of his natural life.