Kolkata, March 24 (NationPress) A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court has instructed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to elucidate to the court whether the female doctor from the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata was a victim of “rape” or “gang-rape”, and to also present the case diary.

During the hearing at the bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on Monday, the judge noted that with one individual (civic volunteer Sanjay Roy) already convicted and sentenced for the offenses of rape and murder, the central agency must clarify if there were one or more perpetrators involved in the crime.

“The CBI should clarify to the court whether this was a case of ‘rape’ or ‘gang-rape’,” Justice Ghosh stated. He also directed the CBI to provide the case diary to the court by the next hearing date.

On Monday, the state government counsel and Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee mentioned that further investigation could take place after the trial process at a special court in Kolkata is concluded.

The CBI counsel, Rajdeep Majumdar, requested additional time for the investigation team to finish the follow-up investigation. Having already secured a conviction against Sanjay Roy for rape and murder, the next phase of the investigation will focus on the potential tampering and alteration of evidence during the initial investigation conducted by Kolkata Police.

The victim's parents' counsel, Sudipto Moitra, contended that the subsequent stage of the investigation should be overseen by the court. He insisted that this next phase should be conducted by a special investigation team of the CBI led by an officer of the rank of additional superintendent.

Senior advocate Kaushik Gupta, representing Sanjay Roy through Legal Aid Services, petitioned the court for the convicted individual to be given an opportunity to be heard. However, this request was denied, and Justice Ghosh remarked that if any order were to be made that could negatively impact the convict, his counsel would be afforded a chance for a hearing.

To recall, last week, the Supreme Court permitted parallel hearings in this case at the Calcutta High Court, prompting the victim's parents' legal representatives to present a fresh petition before Justice Ghosh’s bench.

Justice Ghosh accepted the matter, scheduling Monday as the inaugural day for the new hearing.

Previously, when the victim’s parents approached Justice Ghosh, he was not inclined to hear the case since it was already under consideration by the apex court. However, following the Supreme Court's approval, concurrent hearings are now allowed both at the apex court and the high court, in addition to the proceedings ongoing at a special court in Kolkata.