Probe intends to reveal ‘absolute truth’ in R.G. Kar case: CJI

Supreme Court emphasises CBI's pursuit of truth in R.G. Kar case, urges patience from doctors, and directs Wikipedia to remove sensitive info.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) line of investigation into the R.G. Kar rape and murder case is intended to reveal the “absolute truth”, and it would be unwise to either hurry the probe or dislocate it by revealing the line of investigation.

“The line of investigation followed by the CBI is intended to unearth the absolute truth. They are looking at various issues, including the scene of crime tampering, complicity of other persons, tampering of evidence... the SHO has been arrested. The CBI has specifically responded to issues raised by us in the previous court hearing,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud addressed the lawyers present in the courtroom after perusing the CBI status report.

The Chief Justice urged protesting doctors to give the Central agency, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, time to complete the investigation.

The court asked the CBI, however, to consider inputs and genuine concerns shared by the victim’s father in a letter addressed to the investigating officer of the Central agency on September 12 and maintain contact with the family.

The court, in a separate order, directed Wikipedia to take down an information which may disclose the identity or compromise the dignity or privacy of the victim. The court said such disclosures would be against the law.

During the hearing, the court heard a lawyer who submitted there were gaps in the seizure and collection of the forensic evidence, including samples, from the crime scene. The Chief Justice reacted that what was revealed in the CBI report was “worse”. The court was “very disturbed”, the CJI remarked orally.

The lawyer noted that the CBI had got only 27 minutes of CCTV footage. There was a possibility of somebody having used a ‘blocker device’ to tamper with the hash value of the footage. Besides, the lawyer noted that the CCTV footage of the entrance of the seminar room, where the crime allegedly took place, only showed a particular portion of the area.