Kolkata: In a significant development, on Tuesday, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court ordered the West Bengal health department to give Dr Sandip Ghosh, the current principal of Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital (CNMCH), and the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital directions to go on voluntary leave immediately. If they don’t, the court will make its decision.
Acting on the public interest litigation filed on the alleged rape and murder of a woman junior doctor and second-year postgraduate student last week, the division bench of Chief Justice T.S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya also set the deadline for Ghosh to apply for the voluntary leave failing.
“I am giving the deadline of 3 p.m. today. In the meantime, ask the principal to go on leave. Otherwise, we will give the direction,” the Chief Justice observed.
The division bench also asked the state government to submit the case diary in the matter to the court by 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
As the PIL came up for hearing at the division bench of the Chief Justice, the counsel for the petitioners and CPI (M) Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya questioned Dr Ghosh’s role in the entire matter.
“In the morning on Monday, he announced that he was resigning from state government medical services. On the same evening, an announcement was made appointing him as the head of another prime medical institute,” Bhattacharya argued.
At this argument, the Chief Justice also voiced his scepticism about the rapid appointment. He wondered aloud how one could be awarded such a significant position within just 12 hours, highlighting the need for transparency and due process in such matters.
The state government counsel, in his counterargument, said that the investigating team of Kolkata Police is not hiding anything. “We are ready to submit a report on the progress of the investigation. Statements of around 40 individuals have been recorded in the matter, the state government counsel argued.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice also expressed his concern about the junior doctors’ protest demonstration over the tragedy. He noted that it was unfortunate that the protest was spreading across the country, potentially leading to the patients being the ultimate sufferers.
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–IANS
