Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of Calcutta High Court escapes from hearing R.G. Kar incident petition by victim’s parents

Kolkata 

Calcutta High Court judge Tirthankar Ghosh on Thursday (August 28, 2025) escaped from hearing a petition of parents of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim to start a fresh probe into the rape and murder. On the other hand, Trinamool Congress said that the Kolkata Police was more effective in finding the perpetrator than the central government’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

On Thursday (August 28, 2025), Justice Ghosh said that there are two other petitions challenging the verdict being heard at a division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak, and the petition by the parents should also be heard by the same bench to ensure judicial consistency. 

The victim’s family had moved court stating that they did not faith in the investigation of the CBI and that there were inconsistencies in the probe. They sought a fresh investigation into the crime. 

“They have sent the case to the Chief Justice Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and are waiting to be reassigned. Who will be seeing the case after this remains to be seen once it gets reassigned,” the father of the R.G. Kar victim told The Hindu on Thursday (August 28, 2025) after Justice Ghosh recused himself from the petition. 

During previous conversations, the parents of the R.G. Kar victim had told The Hindu that they are dissatisfied with the CBI investigation. “We do not think their investigation was fair or accurate. While they named only one person in their chargesheet, we believe more people were involved. We will not rest till the larger conspiracy behind our daughter’s deaths is brought to light,” the victim’s father had said in June, 2025. 

On the matter of the R.G. Kar incident, Abhishek Banerjee, TMC’s second-in-command and National General Secretary, also spoke about it at the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) foundation day gathering on Thursday (August 28, 2025) in Kolkata. 

“Today, a year has passed. What Kolkata Police did under the leadership of CM Mamata Banerjee then, Narendra Modi’s CBI has been unable to do even after a year. That has been proven,” Mr. Banerjee said while addressing his party supporters and workers. This came in relation to the arrest of civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy, the sole convict in the RG Kar rape and murder who was arrested by the Kolkata Police a day after the incident came to light. The CBI also named only one individual — Sanjay Roy — in the chargesheet filed on October 7, 2024. 

Mr. Banerjee accused their government’s police of being able to apprehend the accused within a day, and the CBI officials who took over the case on August 14, 2024, have failed to unearth any new culprits. 

The TMC MP from Diamond Harbour, who has been one of the leading faces of the TMC’s youth leadership, also accused that the central government did not pass their “Aparajita Bill”, which had asked for capital punishment for all rape accused in cases where it results in the victim’s death or leaves them in a vegetative state. 

“Those who had objected to it, their objective was not that the accused should be punished, but to destroy the health infrastructure in place to protect the interests of the poor,” Mr. Banerjee further accused.