Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday, at the end of a hearing on petitions by CBI and state government for the death penalty of RG Kar Rape-Murder convict Sanjay Roy, reserved its order. The division bench of Justices Debangshu Basak and Shabbar Rashidi heard both parties.
Advocate Shamim Ahmed, on behalf of the victim's family, informed the High Court that they didn't want capital punishment for Roy. "We think the real culprits are yet to be arrested. They must be arrested and meted out the harshest punishment. We are not in favour of the CBI and the state government's appeal for capital punishment. I have informed this to the court," Shamim said.
On being asked what drove them to refrain from the demand of capital punishment, the father of the victim said their lawyer would respond to this.
"Those who are involved in the incident must be brought to justice. We are with those who will ensure justice for our daughter. CBI is not doing its job as it was exposed by the Sealdaha Court. Even the state police have betrayed us. Who should we approach now? We have asked the same to the court and will proceed as per its advice," he said.
CBI claimed in the court that being the investigating agency it is the rightful party to appeal against the lower court's verdict to a higher court. To this, the state government said aside from the central investigative agency, they also can appeal against the trial court's order.
Advocate General (AG) Kishore Datta said, "As per Section 417(2) of the Delhi Police Establishment Act, a state government can appeal in case the accused is acquitted or the trial court's order is insufficient. Section 377 of the act empowers the state government to appeal in cases under the central government's investigation. If the punishment is insufficient, the state can permit the public prosecutor to appeal."
Justice Basak observed, " As per section 418 of BNS, if the central investigative agency refrains from appealing, only then the state government becomes eligible for it for expediting the case."
To this, the AG said, "Allowing the CBI to investigate a case doesn't obliterate the state's right automatically and the law allows the public prosecutor to appeal."
Additionally Solicitor General SV Raju, on behalf of CBI, said," CBI has all records, case dairy and other documents of the case. A division bench of Calcutta High Court transferred the case from Kolkata Police to CBI on August 13, 2024, and the chargesheet was filed on October 7 of the same year while the trial court convicted Roy on January 18. The state government never requested the court to be a party to the case and did not cooperate with the CBI. Hence, in such cases, the right to appeal doesn't accrue to it."
Questioning Raju, Basak said, "If the CBI doesn't appeal, will the state also lose the right?
Raju replied, "No, Legally the state doesn't have the right. As per Section 18(8) of BNS, the CBI has appointed Amajit Dey as the public prosecutor."
A lawyer named Yash Jalan claimed to represent Roy before the court to which another lawyer Koushik Gupta apprised the high court that he was given the Vakalatnama (a written document authorising the advocate with a range of legal powers) to argue for Roy and Jalan was refused by the convict.
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