NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought details from the West Bengal government regarding the recruitment process of civic volunteers. One of these volunteers is the main accused in the horrific rape and murder case of a 31-year-old doctor who worked at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
“It is a nice process of conferring political patronage on unverified persons,” the SC remarked seeking the state’s affidavit in three weeks. The court’s order followed the allegations of the victim’s parents that the civic volunteer who committed the crime was attached to police deployed at RG Kar hospital and was staying in police barracks.
A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud, also directed the state government, which is recruiting over 1,500 civic volunteers for its ‘Ratire Sathi’ scheme, not to post them in hospitals or any duties and schools till further orders.
It also asked the state government to provide details of the legal scheme behind recruiting the civic volunteers, the modalities of recruitment, antecedent verification and the institutions where they would be recruited.
During the hearing, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, informed the SC that the probe into the case was being carried out with “utmost seriousness”.
Court’s order
Court’s order followed the allegations of the victim’s parents that the civic volunteer who committed the crime was attached to police deployed at RG Kar hospital and was staying in police barracks.
A three-judge bench also directed the government, which is recruiting over 1,500 civic volunteers for its ‘Ratire Sathi’ scheme, not to post them in hospitals or any duties and schools till further orders.