Doctors demand accountability as former RG Kar principal granted Supreme Court bail

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh in a case concerning alleged financial irregularities. Ghosh’s arrest followed massive protests after a doctor was raped and murdered at the hospital on August 9, 2024. The victim’s father, speaking on behalf of the doctors’ justice movement, demanded that the CBI be held responsible for perceived shortcomings.

Prominent doctors Utpal Bandyopadhyay and Aniket Mahato expressed deep disappointment, urging a fast-track trial and accusing the CBI of examining only seven of 147 witnesses over two years. They also called for action against anyone involved in the crime or alleged corruption in the state health department. The mother of the victim, Ratna Debnath, is now a BJP MLA. The bail decision follows earlier rejections by a special CBI court and the Calcutta High Court, while a Sealdah court had previously granted bail in the rape-murder case after the CBI missed the 90-day charge-sheet deadline.