Kolkata- A division bench of the Calcutta High Court has instructed the West Bengal health department to order Dr. Sandip Ghosh to take immediate voluntary leave. If he does not comply, the court will issue its own directive.

Dr. Ghosh, who was previously the principal of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, is currently the principal of Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, also gave Dr. Ghosh a deadline to apply for voluntary leave.

This order was issued in response to a public interest litigation related to the alleged rape and murder of a woman junior doctor last week. The court also asked the state government to submit the case diary by this afternoon.

During the hearing, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, the counsel for the petitioners and a CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member, questioned Dr. Ghosh's role in the case. He pointed out that Dr. Ghosh resigned from state government medical services on Monday morning and was appointed as the head of another major medical institute the same evening. The Chief Justice expressed surprise at how quickly this appointment was made, just 12 hours after the resignation.

The Chief Justice also noted that the protests by junior doctors over the incident were spreading across the country, causing patients to suffer.

In response, the state government’s counsel said that the Kolkata Police investigation team is ready to submit a report on the progress of the investigation.