How did the postmortem happen without a challan? Kapil Sibal again stuck in the hearing of the Kolkata doctor case

New Delhi: In the case of rape and brutal murder of a female trainee doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital, Mamata Banerjee government and West Bengal Police are facing a lot of criticism. The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of this case. The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud today also reprimanded the West Bengal government and police in the second day of hearing. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, who is representing Mamata government in the case, was seen getting stuck on the questions of the Supreme Court many times. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was presenting arguments on behalf of the prosecution, drew the attention of the Supreme Court towards many serious flaws. At the same time, the Chief Justice himself raised tough questions on the issue of conducting postmortem without challan. Justice Chandrachud asked how can a postmortem be done without a challan? Let us have a glimpse of the arguments in the Supreme Court today.SG: The time of the report is also not mentioned in the post-mortem report.

Sibal: Everything is present. Why are such things being said now?

Advocate: There is no information on who did the videography. There is no information on whether the CD was suitable for writing or rewriting. All the doctors present were from the North Bengal lobby.

Sibal: There was a judicial magistrate there.

Advocate: This is irrelevant. There are only 10 entries in the General Diary from 2:30 pm to 10:30 pm! Or is this also fake? The history of fake GD entries in West Bengal dates back to 1983.

Questions also arose regarding postmortem

After these questions were raised about the postmortem of the doctor’s body, serious questions were also raised about the collection of evidence. Let us see below what arguments were given in this case.

SG: Looking at the injuries, the report said there was medical evidence of forceful penetration of the genitals and the cause of death was manual strangulation.

CJI: The CBI is aware of the discrepancies you have pointed out.

Advocate: Vaginal swabs were supposed to be preserved at 4 degrees centigrade and this was not done.

SG: In rape and murder cases, the first five hours are crucial. We cannot go in and out and if we come to investigate after five days, we have our own challenges.

Sibal: We have submitted the entire video.

Advocate: (The dead doctor’s) legs were at a 90-degree angle and that cannot have happened without breaking the hip. Were the X-ray plates handed over?

CJI: Was the letter that was given at the time of handing over the body read? We cannot get into this quarrel.

SG: I am investigating.

Advocate: Please see the carcass challan.

Sibal: The body challan has been presented which was given to the victim’s family. I am not able to get the documents immediately.

CJI: When the body is sent for postmortem after examination, there should be something for the doctors to look at.

CJI: This is important because there is a column showing what clothes and items were sent with the body. We want to see that.

Advocate: This is part of the case diary.

CJI: Let the CBI answer or let the state give it to us.

CJI: The PMR team will not accept the body without the challan, so we want to see it.

Sibal: Please give us time. We will present it in the court. What I have been told is that the CJM has filled it himself and sent it.

CJI: Was the postmortem performed without a request form (challan)?

SG: This cannot happen. This is a statutory requirement.

How did the postmortem happen without a challan?

Justice JB Pardiwala, who was part of the bench, took up the issue of challan. he/she said that if the challan is missing from the documents then there is something wrong.

Justice Pardiwala: The third column in the PM report mentions the constable who is carrying the form. There is no mention of the challan. If this document is missing then something is wrong.

Sibal: We don’t have it yet.

CJI: We will put it up next Wednesday. The court has been apprised of the challan after the post-mortem examination. The CBI said that the duly filled challan is not part of the case file handed over to the CBI. In view of the above, the advocate appearing for one of the petitioners produced the form before the High Court. The form is not with senior advocate Sibal but with Aastha Sharma. A copy of the duly filled form will be produced on the next date of hearing.

Second day of hearing in Supreme Court today

The Supreme Court made several other important points during the hearing. The court said that the CBI has some clues in the case and will submit a new status report by September 17 next week. The missing documents related to the transfer of the doctor’s body for postmortem are a matter of serious concern. The court questioned how the postmortem was done without a challan? It asked why the West Bengal Police delayed filing an FIR by 14 hours? The Supreme Court also ordered the removal of the photos of the deceased doctor from social media.

The apex court had earlier on August 22 pulled up the Kolkata Police for the delay in registering a case of unnatural death of the doctor. It said that this is extremely worrying. The court had also questioned the sequence of events and the timing of its procedural formalities. The court had also constituted a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to prepare a protocol to ensure the safety and security of doctors and other health professionals.