Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, has moved the Supreme Court to contest a Calcutta High Court ruling that mandated a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into his alleged financial misconduct. Ghosh’s plea is scheduled for hearing on September 6 before a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
Ghosh’s legal challenge comes against a backdrop of intense scrutiny following the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in the medical college’s seminar hall. On Tuesday, a Kolkata court ordered Ghosh and three others to be remanded to CBI custody for eight days as part of an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College. The CBI had initially requested a 10-day custody, citing a “large nexus” requiring further examination.
“We have just arrested four people. There is a large nexus that needs to be exposed, and hence we are asking for their interrogation. We need their custody to unearth the entire nexus,” the CBI argued before the Alipore Judges Court.
Ghosh was taken into custody by the federal agency on Monday night and was reportedly assaulted while being presented in court on Tuesday. The CBI has named him in its First Information Report (FIR) under charges including Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (criminal conspiracy), Section 420 IPC (cheating and dishonesty), and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Since August 16, the CBI has been questioning Ghosh in connection with the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor and allegations of financial misconduct during his tenure as principal.
In a related development, the state health department has suspended Ghosh. The order stated, “In view of the ongoing criminal investigation against Prof (Dr) Sandip Ghosh, ex-principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Dr Ghosh is placed under suspension under rule 7(1c) of West Bengal Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules 1971 with immediate effect.”
Sources By Agencies
