WB govt moves Calcutta HC for death penalty in R G Kar case

Kolkata: The West Bengal government has moved the Calcutta High Court seeking death penalty to Sanjay Roy, the convict who was awarded life imprisonment by the Sealdah Court into the rape and murder of an-duty female doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on Monday.

The state government’s step came a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee declared to move the HC for capital punishment to Sanjay while expressing her shock at the trial court's treatment of the crime as “not rarest of the rare” and it's order of life imprisonment in the quantum of punishment for the convict.

On Tuesday state advocate general Kishore Dutta of the HC approached the division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi for permission to file a petition against the trial court's judgment in the case. The division bench has allowed Mr Dutta to file the plea.

In his order, first additional district judge Anirban Das of the Sealdah Court stated on Monday, “In the realm of modern justice, we must rise above the primitive instinct of "an eye for an eye" or "a tooth for a tooth" or "nail for a nail" or "a life for a life". Our duty is not to match brutality with brutality, but to elevate humanity through wisdom, compassion and a deeper understanding of justice.”

He added, “Referring to the landmark Bachan Singh case, which established guidelines for imposing the death penalty, it is evident that this case does not meet the stringent criteria for being classified as "rarest of the rare.” The Supreme Court has consistently em- phasized that the death penalty should be used only in exceptional circumstances where the collective conscience of the community is so shocked that it expects the holders of judicial power to inflict the death penalty. Given these considerations, it would be inappropriate to accede to the prosecution's request for the death penalty.”