GUWAHATI: The Calcutta High Court on Friday, February 7, dismissed an appeal filed by the West Bengal government seeking a death sentence for Sanjay Roy, convicted in the RG Kar rape-murder case.
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A bench comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashid ruled that the state could not file such an appeal, as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was responsible for conducting the probe and prosecution. Consequently, the bench admitted the CBI’s appeal regarding the sentencing.
Earlier on January 20, a trial court sentenced Roy to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a resident doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. However, the court refused to impose the death penalty, ruling that the crime did not meet the "rarest of rare" criteria required for capital punishment.
Challenging this decision, the state had appealed to the High Court, seeking harsher punishment. However, the CBI objected in this case, arguing that the appeal was not legally maintainable.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju represented the CBI, while Advocate General Kishore Datta appeared for the West Bengal government.