RG Kar tragedy: HC chief justice recuses self

Calcutta HC's 's

Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam

on Thursday recused himself from hearing a PIL against former

Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal

in connection with the ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Aug last year.
As the matter came up for hearing before the division bench of Chief Justice Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee, the Chief Justice expressed his desire to recuse himself from hearing the matter on personal grounds.
He also directed the court authorities to remove the matter from the cause list scheduled for hearing at the division bench headed by him.
In Nov last year, the PIL was filed for an FIR to be registered against the former city Police Commissioner for allegedly revealing the identity of the victim while interacting with the media persons.

The division bench then directed the Union 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. It 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.