- By Mayukh Debnath
- Thu, 21 Nov 2024 04:32 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
RG Kar Case: The Centre on Thursday informed the Calcutta High Court that the West Bengal government has a free hand to initiate action against former Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal for allegedly disclosing the name of the victim in the RG Kar rape-murder case at a press conference, news agency IANS reported.
The submission came during a division bench's hearing on a plea, filed last month, accusing Goyal of having publicly revealed the name of the deceased trainee woman doctor. The bench, headed by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, subsequently directed the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) to be a party in the case, since it is the cadre-control authority of all Central service officers, including an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer like Goyal, IANS said in its report.
The division bench also sought an affidavit from DoPT seeking an explanation on the nature of action that can be taken against any all-India service officer for breaching the law. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Ashoke Chakraborty, representing the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, also told the court that the petitioner can make a fresh appeal in case the state government does not initiate action against Goyal.
The PIL in the matter was filed by Anita Pandey, a legal practitioner. She had sought directions for the registration of an FIR against the former city Police Commissioner. Goyal, currently the Additional Director General (ADG) of the Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police, faced scathing criticism since the very beginning of the outcry over the gruesome rape-murder case in context of Kolkata Police's alleged lackadaisical probe, which was later transferred to the CBI by the high court.
Junior doctors protesting the alleged rape and murder of their colleague had made Goyal's removal from the police commissioner's post one of the central demands of their prolonged agitation. The demand was accepted by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee eventually and Manoj Kumar Verma was brought in as the new commissioner of Kolkata Police.
(With inputs from IANS)