The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the transfer of investigations into alleged financial irregularities at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital from a West Bengal government-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The State government earlier this week formed a four-member SIT to investigate alleged financial irregularities at the hospital, where the body of an on-duty junior woman doctor was found.

After the formation of the SIT, the Kolkata Police began an investigation against the hospital’s former principal Sandip Ghosh for his alleged involvement in “financial irregularities” at the medical facility during his tenure.

Hearing the petition filed by a former deputy superintendent of the hospital, Akhtar Ali, Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj directed the CBI to take over the investigation.

Ali moved the High Court, seeking an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Sandip Ghosh over the alleged financial irregularities. He claimed that he had reported Ghosh’s alleged financial irregularities to the State authorities last year.

In directing the transfer of the investigation from SIT to CBI, the court held that multiple agencies investigating similar facts may lead to delays and inefficiencies due to involvement of multiple parties.

In the earlier hearing on Thursday, the court took a dig at the West Bengal government, asking why the SIT was constituted a year after allegations of financial irregularities at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital first emerged.

The body of the woman doctor was found in the seminar room of the hospital on August 9.

The SIT was constituted by the state government at a time when the CBI is conducting its probe into the rape and murder of the 31-year-old doctor.

Published on August 23, 2024