New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (September 6) dismissed a plea by Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, challenging a Calcutta High Court order dismissing his plea to be added as a party to a petition before the High Court alleging financial irregularities at the institute during his tenure as principal of the institute.
Ghosh has no locus to be impleaded: Apex Court
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra dismissed the plea of Ghosh, saying that Ghosh has no locus to be impleaded in the plea.
“As an accused you have no locus to intervene in the PIL (Public Interest Litigation), where the Calcutta High Court is monitoring the investigation,” the top court bench said while dismissing the plea of Ghosh.
High Court order came on a plea by former deputy superintendent of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital
The order of the High Court came on a plea by Akhtar Ali, the former deputy superintendent of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, who had moved the court seeking a probe into the alleged financial misconduct at the institute during the tenure of Ghosh by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Ali had moved the court after the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor inside the seminar room of the institute on August 9 sparked nationwide protests.
Ghosh was not a ‘necessary party’ in the matter: Calcutta High Court
The High Court had dismissed the plea moved by Ghosh to be added as a party in the petition by Ali, holding that he was not a “necessary party” in the matter.
“In light of the apparent nexus between the aforementioned allegations and the locus of the incident, and considering that the investigation in the case (of murder and rape)… has already been entrusted to the CBI, in the interest of ensuring a comprehensive and unbiased inquiry, the investigation into the present matter ought to be similarly transferred to the CBI,” the High Court said in its order while dismissing Ghosh’s plea.
Ghosh is currently in CBI custody
The CBI arrested Ghosh and three others on September 2 in connection with the alleged financial misconduct at the institute and currently he is in CBI custody in connection with the investigation into alleged financial irregularities at the institute during his tenure as principal.
The High Court earlier transferred the investigation of rape and murder of the woman doctor from the Kolkata Police to the CBI. The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and has sought the status report on the investigation from the CBI.