A crucial hearing on the ghastly rape and murder of a woman doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital is scheduled at a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Monday with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) slated to submit the progress report on the probe.
The hearing was scheduled for September 5 but was postponed for some reason and Monday was fixed as the hearing next date.
The hearing will take place at a time when the state-level and national-level spontaneous mass protests on the issue have crossed the Indian boundaries with Indians and Non-Resident Indians organising protests at their respective places condemning the murder and the alleged attempts on the part of a section within the state administration and the ruling dispensation to cover up the incident.
The hearing is extremely crucial on two counts, feel the political observers. The contents of CBI’s progress report in the investigation, submitted to the apex court, surface in full or even in part, then those will decide the course of both political and apolitical movements which are not just continuing but gaining momentum with each passing day.
The second factor that will be equally important on this count will be the observations made by the three-judge bench during the hearing.
Another important factor, whose reference is expected during the hearing, is the Centre’s complaint against the state government for not providing infrastructure support to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel who have been deputed at the R.G. Kar as per the direction of the Supreme Court.
Legal experts feel that in case the CISF issue comes up during the hearing there is a high possibility of the three-judge bench deliberating on the matter since the deployment of the same was as per direction of the same bench.
On Sunday, the parents of the victim said they have faith in the spontaneous protests that have surfaced in different corners, and claimed that they can get justice for their daughter only if the protests continue. They also accused Kolkata Police of trying to destroy the evidence in the matter since the beginning.