KOLKATA: A CBI lawyer kept a Kolkata court waiting 50 minutes for a hearing Friday on RG Kar hospital rape-murder suspect Sanjay Roy's bail application , prompting the exasperated magistrate to wonder aloud at one point if she should accept the plea and let out the alleged perpetrator of the Aug 9 crime.
"If the lawyer is not present, he (Roy) should be granted bail," additional chief judicial magistrate Pamela Gupta said on hearing from a CBI officer at 4.10pm that the public prosecutor was delayed.
As the minutes ticked by and lawyer Dipak Poria still hadn't arrived, the magistrate asked the CBI officer to call him. "It is 4.20pm now. This is very unfortunate," she said.
The officer, who identified herself as an assistant investigating officer in the case, stepped out of the courtroom to make a call and returned after nearly 15 minutes to say that the lawyer was on his way.
When Poria entered the courtroom at 5pm, defence lawyer Kavita Sarkar got up to question why CBI wasn't being represented by the counsel who attended the Aug 23 hearing.
Poria replied that he was CBI's "full-time lawyer" and informed the court without citing any reason that the agency opposes Roy's bail plea. Magistrate Gupta remanded the rape-murder suspect, the lone person named in the FIR, in judicial custody till Sept 20.
Defence lawyer Sarkar had argued for bail to Roy on the ground that he didn't have criminal antecedents or a criminal case pending against him. She also mentioned that CBI was still to reveal the evidence against him, while the prosecution was "reluctant" and "lethargic" to argue in court.
"Roy should be granted bail for these reasons," Sarkar said.
CBI's second remand plea since the agency was handed the probe by Calcutta HC reiterates that Roy, who used to be a civilian traffic police volunteer, remains the only suspect in the rape-murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor.
TOI had reported on Aug 23 that CBI's first remand note in a Sealdah court seeking Roy's judicial custody does not mention "gang rape", although the victim's family suspects she was assaulted by more than one person.
"The relevant DNA report has been sent to AIIMS (Delhi) for an opinion," a CBI officer said later. "We have not concluded anything so far. The samples were collected by police and later given to us. The victim was cremated before we took over the probe and we don't have any option but to depend on what police gave us."
CBI has questioned over 100 people and conducted over 10 polygraph tests, including two on Sandip Ghosh , the arrested former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
"If the lawyer is not present, he (Roy) should be granted bail," additional chief judicial magistrate Pamela Gupta said on hearing from a CBI officer at 4.10pm that the public prosecutor was delayed.
As the minutes ticked by and lawyer Dipak Poria still hadn't arrived, the magistrate asked the CBI officer to call him. "It is 4.20pm now. This is very unfortunate," she said.
The officer, who identified herself as an assistant investigating officer in the case, stepped out of the courtroom to make a call and returned after nearly 15 minutes to say that the lawyer was on his way.
When Poria entered the courtroom at 5pm, defence lawyer Kavita Sarkar got up to question why CBI wasn't being represented by the counsel who attended the Aug 23 hearing.
Poria replied that he was CBI's "full-time lawyer" and informed the court without citing any reason that the agency opposes Roy's bail plea. Magistrate Gupta remanded the rape-murder suspect, the lone person named in the FIR, in judicial custody till Sept 20.
Defence lawyer Sarkar had argued for bail to Roy on the ground that he didn't have criminal antecedents or a criminal case pending against him. She also mentioned that CBI was still to reveal the evidence against him, while the prosecution was "reluctant" and "lethargic" to argue in court.
"Roy should be granted bail for these reasons," Sarkar said.
CBI's second remand plea since the agency was handed the probe by Calcutta HC reiterates that Roy, who used to be a civilian traffic police volunteer, remains the only suspect in the rape-murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor.
TOI had reported on Aug 23 that CBI's first remand note in a Sealdah court seeking Roy's judicial custody does not mention "gang rape", although the victim's family suspects she was assaulted by more than one person.
"The relevant DNA report has been sent to AIIMS (Delhi) for an opinion," a CBI officer said later. "We have not concluded anything so far. The samples were collected by police and later given to us. The victim was cremated before we took over the probe and we don't have any option but to depend on what police gave us."
CBI has questioned over 100 people and conducted over 10 polygraph tests, including two on Sandip Ghosh , the arrested former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
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