A division bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Tuesday, directed the West Bengal health department to instruct the erstwhile principal of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital and the current principal of Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital (CNMCH) Dr Sandip Ghosh to immediately go on voluntary leave, failing which the court will give its direction.

Acting on the public interest litigation filed on the alleged rape and murder of a woman junior doctor and second-year postgraduate student last week, the division bench of Chief Justice T.S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya also set the deadline for Ghosh to apply for the voluntary leave failing.

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“I am giving the deadline of 3 p.m. today. In the meantime ask the principal to go on leave. Otherwise, we will give the direction,” the Chief Justice observed.

The division bench also asked the state government to submit the case diary in the matter to the court by 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

As the PIL came up for hearing in the matter at the division bench of the Chief Justice, the counsel for the petitioners and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya questioned the role of Dr Ghosh in the entire matter.

“In the morning on Monday, he announced that he was resigning from state government medical services. On the same evening an announcement was made appointing him as the head of another prime medical institute,” Bhattacharya argued.

At this argument, the Chief Justice also expressed wonder on how one could be awarded within just 12 hours.

The state government counsel, in his counterargument, said that the investigating team of Kolkata Police is not hiding anything. “We are ready to submit a report on the progress of the investigation. Statements of around 40 individuals have been recorded in the matter, the state government counsel argued.

During the hearing, the Chief Justice also made an observation, saying that it was unfortunate that the protest demonstration by the junior doctors over the tragedy was spreading across the country. “If this happens, the patients will be the ultimate sufferers,” Justice Sivagnanam observed.