The West Bengal government on Tuesday approached the Calcutta High Court, challenging the special court's verdict that sentenced Sanjay Roy, convicted in the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, to life imprisonment.
State Advocate General Kishor Datta has approached the division bench of Justices Debangshu Basak and Shabbar Rashidi, seeking a "death penalty" for the convict. The division bench has admitted the petition from the state government.
After the court announced the sentence, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared on Monday evening that the state government would approach the Calcutta High Court to challenge the verdict. She also stated that the state would be seeking the "death penalty" for the convict.
"I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for the capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now," the Chief Minister said in a statement.
According to her, she was deeply shocked by the judgment of the special court, which did not consider the crime as the "rarest of rare."
"I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case that demands capital punishment. We want to insist upon the death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case," the Chief Minister added.
"Recently, in the last three or four months, we have been able to ensure capital/maximum punishment for convicts in such crimes. Then, why, in this case, has capital punishment not been awarded?" the Chief Minister’s statement continued.
"We demanded the 'death penalty' for the convict. I don't know how… Had the case been in our hands (i.e. state police or Kolkata Police), the death sentence would have been pronounced much earlier," the Chief Minister said.
While pronouncing the quantum of the sentence, special court judge Anirban Das stated that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)'s contention that Roy's offence was "the rarest of rare crimes" was not tenable.
Follow us
