Hours after a special court here awarded life imprisonment to Sanjay Roy, the sole accused in the rape and murder of a lady doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that West Bengal government will challenge the order in Calcutta High Court soon.
In a statement issued on Monday morning, she had also made it clear that the state government will be seeking the “death penalty” at the Calcutta High Court for the victim.
“I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now,” the statement by the Chief Minister said.
According to her, she is deeply shocked at the judgment of the special court which does not consider the crime as the “rarest of rare crimes.” “I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare cases which demands capital punishment. How could the judgment come to the conclusion that it is not the rarest of rare cases? We want to insist upon the death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case,” the Chief Minister’s statement read.
“Recently, in the last 3/4 months, we have been able to ensure capital/ maximum punishment for convicts in such crimes. Then, why, in this case, has capital punishment not been awarded?” the Chief Minister’s statement added.
Earlier in the day, immediately after the sentence was pronounced, the Chief Minister expressed her displeasure and dissatisfaction over the quantum of the sentence.
“We demanded the ‘death penalty’ for the convict. I don’t know how…..Had the case been in our hands (read state police or Kolkata Police), the death sentence would have been pronounced much earlier,” the Chief Minister told media persons just after the sentence was pronounced by the special court.
However, when specifically asked whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had failed to carry out the investigation properly thus leading to just “life imprisonment” and not “death penalty,” the Chief Minister refused to make any direct comment.
“I do not want to say anything on these lines. All I can say is that recently in the three cases of similar rape and murder which were handled by the state police, the “death penalty’ was pronounced within a much shorter period,” the Chief Minister said.
Operation Sindoor Outreach: First group of All Party Delegation leaves for five-nation tour
India on Wednesday rolled out its massive global campaign 'Operation Sindoor Outreach' to expose Pakistan's direct and indirect links to terrorism as the first group of an all-party delegation led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha left for a five-nation visit from New Delhi.
41 Australian lawmakers write to Yunus, urge 'clear election roadmap' in Bangladesh
In a significant development, a group of 41 Australian Senators and Members of Parliament on Wednesday wrote a letter to Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh's interim government, urging his administration to immediately and publicly announce a specific, time-bound electoral roadmap,
Illegal immigrants will be pushed back, says Tripura CM
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Wednesday once again firmly reiterated that the state government would not allow illegal immigrants from Bangladesh or Myanmar to enter Indian territory under any circumstances.
Cash at judge's residence: SC trashes plea seeking FIR against Justice Varma
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking criminal prosecution of Justice Yashwant Varma, who is embroiled in a controversy surrounding the alleged discovery of a huge pile of burnt cash in the storeroom attached to his bungalow in the national capital after the fire brigade had gone there to douse a blaze on March 14.
Sonia, Rahul Gandhi enjoyed Rs 142 crore of 'proceeds of crime' in National Herald case, ED tells Delhi court
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday told a court here that Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi have enjoyed Rs. 142 crore of “proceeds of crime” linked to alleged National Herald money laundering case.
West Bengal turned to 'Taliban state' run by 'modern Jinnah': BJP on Murshidabad violence report
The political storm intensified on Wednesday after a report by a three-member committee of the Calcutta High Court exposed serious lapses by the state police in containing the communal violence that erupted in West Bengal's Muslim-dominated Murshidabad district last month.
Centre to invest Rs 1,000 crore for waterways in northeast: Sarbananda Sonowal
Sonowal said, “As per the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are developing robust waterway infrastructure in Assam and the Northeast with projects worth Rs 1,000 crore on the anvil, targeted for completion by 2026.”
Rafale friendship takes flight: French Senate delegation backs India in fight against terror
The Rafale fighter jets supplied by France are not just cutting-edge defence platforms — they now stand as soaring symbols of a time-tested friendship and strategic trust between India and France, New Delhi told a visiting delegation of the French Senate on Tuesday.