Mamata Banerjee refutes offering money to deceased doctor's family, alleges Centre's conspiracy

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that she never offered money to deceased doctor's family, referring to the reports of her offering money to the kin of the Kolkata doctor who was raped and murdered in the RG Kar Hospital.

"I went to the victims' house but did not give money but spoke about compensation following Court order," said Banerjee. "I told deceased doctor's parents that if they wanted to do something in their daughter's memory, our government with them, she added.

"I don't want to take action against on anyone but resolve the issue through discussion," said the Chief Minister.



Banerjee also claimed that Kolkata Commissioner of Police Vineet Kumar Goyal wanted to resign after the issue. She said that the state needed someone who knew law and order ahead of Durga Puja.

Meanwhile, the BJP has demanded the chief minister's resignation so that an impartial probe was done and called for a polygraph test on her.

Banerjee claimed that the ongoing protests were a conspiracy by the Centre and CPI-M, adding that Reclaim the Night was creating disturbance to old age people.

"Some people taking advantage of turmoil in neighbouring country, they have forgotten that India, Bangladesh are separate nations," Banerjee said.

Supreme Court observations in the RG Kar Hospital case

The Supreme Court on Monday flagged a key issue flagged during the hearing. It was related to lapses in the postmortem report (PMR). A counsel pointed out procedural irregularities, noting that postmortems are not typically conducted after 6 pm. He further flagged that details, such as the time of the postmortem, the name and designation of the doctors were missing.

The Solicitor General further stated that the proper preservation of vaginal swabs was not done. The counsel also raised concerns over the condition of the victim’s body, including the position of her legs, which suggested potential mishandling.


Chief Justice Chandrachud questioned the missing paperwork, particularly the absence of a "challan" — a mandatory form that accompanies the body for postmortem. The CJI demanded an explanation from the CBI on this procedural lapse. The Solicitor General also acknowledged that the form was not present in the documents provided.

Kapil Sibal, representing the Bengal government sought additional time to place the challan on record and informed the court that the Chief Judicial Magistrate had personally overseen the process, but no separate form had been filled out. The bench stressed the need for clarity on the postmortem procedures, especially if critical documents were missing.

The apex court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit a fresh status report by September 18, 2024, on the progress of the investigation into the murder and alleged rape of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

During the hearing, the court noted that a status report had already been submitted by the CBI, indicating that the investigation was ongoing. The bench stated, "Status report has been filed by CBI, it appears that the investigation is in progress. We direct the CBI to file a fresh status report... we will take it up on Tuesday, let's see what happens now."

Both the CBI and the West Bengal government had submitted their respective status reports on September 9. Sibal informed the court that the state health department had also filed a report and raised concerns about the impact of the ongoing doctors' strike, which had led to 23 deaths.