Former director of RG Kar Hospital, Sandip Ghosh (file image)
New Delhi: In a major setback for the former director of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the High Court order directing CBI investigation over financial irregularities at the institute, which is under intense scrutiny for the alleged rape and murder of a junior doctor last month. “Let the CBI investigate and file a report,” said the court headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud saying.
The Supreme Court bench ruled that former director Sandip Ghosh is not entitled to be made a party.
The top court was hearing a petition by Sandip Ghosh challenging the Calcutta High Court transferring the probe into financial irregularities at RG Kar Hospital from the state-constituted SIT to the CBI “without hearing him”. He had sought the High Court’s intervention in the matter but was denied.
On Monday, after 15 days of questioning, Ghosh was arrested by the CBI. Ghosh’s security guard Afsar Ali (44) and hospital vendors Biplav Singha (52) and Suman Hazara (46), who used to supply material to the hospital, were also arrested in connection with the case.
Ghosh is the second major accused to be arrested from the hospital since August 9.
Earlier, a civic volunteer of Kolkata Police, Sanjoy Roy, was arrested by the Kolkata Police and handed over to the central agency in connection with the alleged rape and murder of the doctor.
On August 23, the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the investigation into alleged financial irregularities at the RG Kar Hospital to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following a petition by the facility’s former deputy superintendent Dr Akhtar Ali, who sought an inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into multiple charges of alleged financial misconduct at the state-run institute during Gosh’s tenure as its director.
Ghosh served as the director of the RG Kar Medical College from February 2021 to September 2023. He was transferred from RG Kar in October that year but inexplicably returned to that post within a month. He held his post at the hospital until the day the hospital doctor was found dead.
In his statement, Ali accused Ghosh of illegally selling unclaimed bodies, trafficking in biomedical waste and bidding for commissions paid by suppliers of medicines and medical equipment.
Ali also alleged that students were pressurised to pay amounts ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 8 lakh to pass the exams.
The former director was put on compulsory leave by the state government after the murder of the junior doctor came to light. The incident has sparked widespread protests in the state, including by doctors and the general public.
The protesting doctors have remained steadfast in their demand to suspend the accused officer pending an inquiry. Protesters from across social and political circles in the state have accused the Mamata Banerjee administration of shielding Ghosh by not issuing a suspension order.
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