The Supreme Court on Tuesday took a tough stand on the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud rejected the plea of a senior lawyer in which he had demanded the removal of Mamata Banerjee from the post of Chief Minister of West Bengal. During the hearing on this issue, heated arguments were seen in the court.
During the hearing of this case in the Supreme Court, as the court was about to end its day’s hearing, a senior lawyer tried to file an interim application seeking direction from the court for Mamta Banerjee’s resignation. On this, CJI Chandrachud expressed displeasure over this application and said, “Wait a second, who are you appearing for? This is not a political platform. You are a member of the bar. Listen carefully… What you are saying should be according to the rules of legal discipline. We are not here to listen about political leaders.”
CJI Chandrachud explained that the court’s focus was on the problems of protesting junior doctors in Kolkata. He said, “If you are asking me to direct the resignation of the Chief Minister… then this is not part of our jurisdiction.” Chandrachud again intervened when the lawyer continued his argument. The CJI warned, “One second, listen to me first, otherwise I will throw you out of the court.”
The West Bengal Junior Doctors Forum has clarified that they are not demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister but the concrete implementation of their five demands. The Supreme Court discussed the progress in the investigation of the case and directed the CBI to submit a fresh status report by September 24. The court also spoke of hearing some information discovered by the agency from the father of the deceased doctor. Senior advocate Indira Jaising said that the junior doctors will also provide the names of people present at the crime spot to help in the investigation of the case.
