Dehradun: Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar on Sunday launched a fresh salvo at Kapil Sibal over ‘symptomatic malaise’ statement by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) headed by the senior Supreme Court advocate on the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case. In an apparent dig at the Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) chief, Dhankar said that some “strayed voices” are “aggravating pain”. On August 21, the SCBA, in a statement, termed the crime at RG Kar hospital as “symptomatic of the malaise”.
"When humanity has been shamed, there are some stray voices, voices that cause concern. They only aggravate our excruciating pain. To put it mildly, they are adding salt to our injured conscience," the Vice President said.
The Vice President made these remarks while addressing students and faculty members at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh. Dhankar said that someone who is a member of parliament and an advocate said that the Kolkata incident was a 'symptomatic malaise' and suggested that such incidents are frequently indecent.
Dhankar's Remarks:
#WATCH | Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhnkhar says “When humanity has been shamed, there are some stray voices, voices that cause concern. They only aggravate our excruciating pain. To put it mildly, they are adding salt to our injured conscience and what do… pic.twitter.com/lEsUcbzQfI
— ANI (@ANI) September 1, 2024
Notably, Sibal represented the Mamata Banerjee government in the RG Kar rape and murder case in the Supreme Court.
"When it comes from someone who is a Member of Parliament, a senior advocate, then the culpability is of extreme degree. There can be no alibi for such kind of demonising thoughts. I call upon such misguided souls to revisit their thoughts and publicly tender an apology," the Vice President said while expressing strong disapproval of Sibal's comments.
"This is not an occasion where you should be looking through political prism. This political prism is a dangerous one, it kills your objectivity. It calls for searching within," he added.
He termed the RG Kar incident 'barbarity expressed in extremity', adding that it has shamed humanity.
"What happened on August 9, 2024, was not just an incident. It was barbarity expressed in extremity, shaming humanity. The victim happened to be from a category that is ever devoted to saving lives", he added.
The incident, which involved the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, has sparked widespread protests across West Bengal and other parts of the country. Accused Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer at the hospital, was arrested on August 10.