The Supreme Court on Friday will take up Sandip Ghosh’s petition. Ghosh, the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, is challenging a Calcutta High Court ruling that ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into financial irregularities at the hospital. 

On August 23, Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj from the Calcutta High Court directed the CBI to lead the investigation into these alleged financial irregularities that occurred during Ghosh’s tenure. The court made this decision after reviewing a petition from Akhtar Ali, a whistleblower and former deputy medical superintendent at R.G. Kar. Justice Bhardwaj also specified that the CBI’s investigation would be court-monitored.

That same day, Ghosh appealed the ruling to a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, which included Justices Harish Tandon and Hiranmay Bhattacharya. Ghosh requested a speedy hearing but was told to first obtain a copy of the single-judge bench’s order. Instead of going back to the division bench with the order copy, Ghosh decided to go straight to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

On August 25, CBI officials raided several locations in Kolkata, including Ghosh’s home, as part of the investigation. By September 2, CBI’s economic offence wing had taken Ghosh and three others into custody. A special court in Kolkata remanded the four, including Ghosh, to CBI custody for eight days on September 3.

The allegations against Ghosh include awarding contracts to private parties without proper approval, using private entities for infrastructure work instead of the standard state public works department, and improperly disposing of biomedical waste and organs from unidentified bodies.