The CBI received a massive setback on Friday after a special court in Kolkata granted bail to Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and Abhijit Mondal, the former officer-in-charge of Tala police station in the rape and murder case of a junior doctor in the state-run healthcare facility in August this year.
The magistrate of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s special court in Sealdah granted bail to the two accused after the federal agency failed to submit the charge sheet against the two within the stipulated time.
Ghosh, however, will remain in jail in another case of alleged financial irregularities at the hospital which is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
While granting bail, the magistrate said that he would have to appear before the CBI when he is called by the central agency.
Ghosh and Mondal were arrested amid massive protests erupted across the country. The CBI slapped them with the charges of destructing evidence in the rape and murder case.
The central agency already submitted a charge sheet mentioning Kolkata police’s civic volunteer Sanjay Roy as the lone accused in the heinous crime.
During the bail plea hearing on Friday, CBI’s lawyer opposed saying the probe by the central agency is yet to be completed. But the court turned down submission.
Granting bail to the two accused is said to be a blow to the CBI as a large section of Bengal’s civil society demanded a probe by the central agency accusing Kolkata police of destructing and tampering evidence.
However, the investigating evidence is still yet to come across any evidence which will corroborate the charges against Mondal and Ghosh.
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