Overview
- The division bench of Justices Rajasekhar Mantha and Rai Chattopadhyay, which stepped aside Tuesday citing a heavy roster and many pending cases, left the matter for Chief Justice Sujoy Paul to reassign.
- The court accepted a status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation and, in an April 9 order, allowed the agency to re‑interrogate convicted accused Sanjay Roy and question others to probe an alleged wider conspiracy.
- This is not the first recusal in the matter, with earlier benches—including a division bench led by Justice Debangshu Basak and a single bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh—also releasing the case due to time and roster constraints.
- Against a new political backdrop, the victim’s mother, Ratna Debnath, who won the Panihati seat as a BJP candidate on May 9, said she met the chief justice after the hearing and plans to speak with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
- The case stems from the rape and murder of a junior doctor found at RG Kar Medical College on August 9, 2024, followed by Sanjay Roy’s arrest, a CBI takeover ordered by the High Court, and his life sentence in January 2025, while the family continues to seek a broader probe.