CJI Chandrachud takes up suo moto on RG Kar Case

The Supreme Court on Sunday took *suo motu* cognizance of the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, marking a significant and possibly unprecedented step by the top court. According to a source close to the Chief Justice of India, this might be the first instance of the Supreme Court initiating such action on its own in response to a crime against an individual.

Notably, the court did not take *suo motu* cognizance even during the infamous 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case, which led to nationwide outrage and significant legal reforms. The Nirbhaya case eventually resulted in amendments to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which increased the penalties for such heinous crimes to include death, life imprisonment, or a minimum of 20 years in jail, compared to the previous maximum sentence of seven years.

A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra is set to hear the RG Kar atrocity case as a special criminal writ petition at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The hearing, initially scheduled for Monday, was postponed due to the public holiday for Raksha Bandhan.

The case, titled “In Re: Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, and related issues,” will be given priority on the court's docket, meaning it will be addressed as soon as the court convenes.

The Supreme Court is expected to request a detailed status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was directed by the Calcutta High Court on August 13 to take over the investigation. Typically, the Supreme Court does not intervene in matters already under the purview of a high court, making this an unusual and significant development.

This is a developing story.

With inputs from agencies
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