NEW DELHI: Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in West Bengal on Tuesday moved high court seeking death penalty for convict Sanjay Roy, who was granted life imprisonment in the rape and murder of a medic in RG Kar case.
Advocate General Kishore Dutta approached the division bench in the case. The court has permitted the filing of the matter.
“I have been seeking capital punishment for the accused in the R G Kar death incident. If someone is so demonic and barbaric, then how can society remain humane? We have passed the Aparajita Bill, but the Centre is sitting on it,” she said at a public meeting in Malda.
The sessions court in Kolkata sentenced Roy to life in prison. Despite public pressure, the court refrained from imposing the death penalty, saying the case didn’t meet the “rarest of rare’ criteria.”
“I am really shocked to see the judgment of the court today finds it is not a rarest of rare case!” Banerjee had posted on X after the verdict by Sealdah court.
“I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case which demands capital punishment… We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the high court now,” she added.
The mother of the victim had also expressed shock over the verdict saying, “We are shocked. How is this not the rarest of rare cases? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime.”
During court proceedings, the CBI lawyer pushed for the death penalty, calling the crime ‘rarest of the rare’ and emphasizing that such a sentence would restore public trust in the justice system. The defense, however, argued the prosecution failed to prove the convict’s irredeemable nature.
Despite the prosecution’s strong case, the judge determined the crime didn’t meet the criteria for the death penalty, opting for life imprisonment instead. Additionally, the court ordered a Rs 17 lakh compensation to be paid to the family of the deceased doctor.
