The trial process of Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, linked to financial irregularities, faced a delay in a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Despite the Enforcement Directorate filing charges on February 6, the trial could not commence as the state government has not yet granted the necessary sanction for prosecution, citing Ghosh’s previous status as a state government employee. The next hearing is set for March 7 at the special PMLA court.
In the initial chargesheet filed by the ED on February 6, Sandip Ghosh was identified as the mastermind behind the financial irregularities at R. G. Kar. Additionally, two private vendors, Biplab Sinha and Suman Hazra, were named as beneficiaries in the case. The ED also included Hazra Medical, a supplier to R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, in the chargesheet.
While the ED investigates the financial irregularities at R. G. Kar, the CBI is concurrently looking into both the financial discrepancies and the tragic incident involving the rape and murder of a female junior doctor on the hospital premises in August 2024. The CBI is exploring the possibility of a broader conspiracy in the rape and murder case. Speculation has arisen suggesting a potential connection between the rape and murder case and the financial irregularities at R. G. Kar.
Allegations in the financial irregularities case at R. G. Kar involve purported manipulation of tender processes, the allocation of infrastructure contracts to private entities bypassing the state Public Works Department, and the illicit trade of organs from unidentified bodies intended for autopsies.
