Law college rape, gold shop robbery trials among cases on pause

Kolkata: The ongoing trials in the law college rape case and the Ranigung armed robbery worth Rs 4 crore are on pause as the trial judges have now been tasked with SIR duties.Several major trials that are ongoing in the lower courts, including the Durgapur medical student gang rape case and the Rampurhat rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl, are either being disrupted or under threat of disruption as judges of lower courts are assigned SIR duties, public prosecutors fear.
The witness evidence process stalled in the law college gang rape case on Monday, with a key witness, a forensic expert, not being able to testify in court. The Ranigung armed jewellery shop robbery trial also could not be held at the Asansol court on Tuesday as the trial judge was assigned SIR duties.Bivas Chatterjee, the special public prosecutor in both cases, said the cases had key witness testimonies. "A cyber expert was supposed to testify in court on behalf of the govt in the law college case. But, due to the hearing not taking place, he returned. This may be completed on March 23. On Tuesday, I travelled all the way to Asansol. Even though there was a bomb scare, the witness testimony could have been conducted, but it did not happen," said Chatterjee.Defence lawyer in the law college rape case, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, said the hearing did not happen as the judge was busy with SIR-related work. According to court sources, the process of framing charges against the accused in this high-profile case was already completed. However, the hearing was repeatedly delayed due to various legal complications, with the SIR process this time posing a challenge.In the 2024 Ranigung case, a 7-member robbery gang barged into a jewellery shop and attempted to carry out a Rs 4 crore robbery. However, it was prevented with the help of a police officer, with an SI exchanging fire with the robbers.Public prosecutors confirmed that another high-profile trial, involving a murder in Suri in Birbhum, also stalled on Tuesday, with the final witness in the case unable to testify.Two more high-priority trials are scheduled to be taken up in the district courts in 72 hours. This involves the trials in the rape and murder of a 13-year-old tribal girl at Rampurhat and the gang rape of a Durgapur medical student.However, Chatterjee said he remains apprehensive. "I was assured that trials will not be affected. However, given the situation now, I am keeping all options open. Lots of preparations are required in high-profile cases," said Chatterjee.