Court orders former principal of a medical college to take leave while Bengal government is in charge.

In Kolkata, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court has issued a directive to the West Bengal health department regarding the principal of two medical colleges. The court has instructed Dr. Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital and current principal of Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital, to take voluntary leave immediately. If he fails to do so, the court will give a direct order.

This directive comes after a public interest litigation was filed regarding the alleged rape and murder of a female junior doctor and second-year postgraduate student last week. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice T.S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, has also set a deadline for Dr. Ghosh to apply for voluntary leave. The Chief Justice stated, "I am giving the deadline of 3pm today. In the meantime, ask the principal to go on leave. Otherwise, we will give the direction.”

The court has also requested the state government to submit the case diary to the court by 1pm on Tuesday. During the hearing of the PIL, the counsel for the petitioners, CPI Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, questioned Dr. Ghosh's role in the case. He pointed out that on Monday morning, Dr. Ghosh had announced his resignation from state government medical services, but by the evening, he had been appointed as the head of another prominent medical institute. The Chief Justice also expressed surprise at how someone could be awarded such a high position within just 12 hours.

In response to these arguments, the state government counsel stated that the investigating team of Kolkata Police is not hiding anything and is willing to submit a report on the progress of the investigation. He also mentioned that statements of approximately 40 individuals have been recorded in the matter.

During the hearing, the Chief Justice also noted with concern that the protest demonstrations by junior doctors over this tragedy were spreading across the country. He observed, “If this continues, the patients will be the ultimate sufferers.” These statements were made in the context of the recent protests by doctors in various parts of the country in support of their colleagues in Kolkata.

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