The Supreme Court on Monday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged custodial torture of two women arrested amid protests that took place in West Bengal after the horrific rape and murder of an in-duty trainee doctor at the government run RG Kar Medical College.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan was dealing with West Bengal government's plea challenging the Calcutta High Court order which directed CBI probe into the matter.
The court said that the SIT can also associate some other police officers for assistance.
The bench held that a routine handover of investigation of matters to CBI not only leads to burden on the premier investigating agency, but can have a serious demoralising impact on the officers of the state police.
Previously, the Supreme Court had stayed this order of the Calcutta High Court. Today, the top court directed that the SIT shall take over the investigation forthwith and submit weekly status reports to a bench of the Calcutta High Court. It further said that the victims would be at liberty to approach the SIT to ensure no harm is caused to their life and liberty.
The court had sought a list of IPS officers, including women officers, who could be included in an SIT to investigate the custodial torture case instead of CBI.
The Supreme Court included the following officers (who do not belong to West Bengal but are serving there.)
1. Mr Akash Makharia, IPS, DIG Presidency Range
2. Ms Swati Bhangalia, Superintendent of Police, Howrah (Rural)
3. Ms Sujata Kumari Veenapani, IPS, Deputy Commissioner (Traffic), Howrah
The matter pertains to the alleged custodial torture of two women who had participated in the Nabanna Abhijan march organised to protest against the RG Kar Medical College incident. It was alleged that the two women made objectionable remarks against the minor daughter of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee.
Subsequently, a complaint was filed at the Diamond Harbour police station and the police booked the two women under several charges includeing the POCSO Act. The woman alleged assault in custody by police officers.
The Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe into the allegations, noting discrepancy in the recording of the medical state of the petitioners by different authorities. The high court held that given the nature of the incident, allowing the police to investigate the same, would lead to a conflict of interest.