Kapil Sibal informs SC about rape threats to female lawyers representing West Bengal in RG Kar case
New Delhi: Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that female lawyers from his chambers were receiving rape and physical harm threats for representing the State of West Bengal in the case concerning the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Sibal expressed concerns before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, stating that women in his chambers were being threatened with acid attacks and rape, and that posts were circulating about him laughing during the proceedings.
"There are threats to women in my chamber, and then there are posts about me laughing. People are saying acid will be thrown at them, and they will be raped," Sibal said.
The Court reassured him, with CJI Chandrachud stating, "If there are any such threats to any man or woman, we will step in."
Sibal also raised concerns about the impact of live-streaming the hearings on the lawyers’ reputations, stating that the 50-year reputation he had built was being destroyed overnight due to misinterpretations of court remarks. He requested the Court to halt the live-streaming, but the CJI declined, maintaining that it was in the public interest.
The case relates to the rape and murder of a 31-year-old resident doctor, whose body was found on August 9 in a seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College. An autopsy confirmed that the doctor had been raped and murdered. The incident sparked protests across the country, with doctors demanding stronger laws and increased protection for medical professionals.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently handling the probe, following an order from the Calcutta High Court. The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the matter, issuing several directives, including the establishment of a National Task Force to address issues related to the safety of medical professionals and gender-based violence. The Court also ordered the State of West Bengal to file a status report on the acts of vandalism that took place at the hospital following the incident and directed that Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) security be deployed at the hospital.
The CBI is expected to submit a status report on the investigation soon.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
