During the Supreme Court hearing of the Kolkata rape-murder case on Monday, the three-judge bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud questioned the absence of a crucial document for the post-mortem raising significant questions.The CJI asked about the whereabouts of the challan which is essential for conducting post-mortem. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the West Bengal government informed the court he was unable to find it at the moment and would come back to the court on this question. The issue came to light after an advocate asked whether the victim’s clothes were presented during the autopsy.“It is important because it has a column showing what clothes and articles were sent along with the body; we want to see that,” said the CJI, adding, “The post-mortem team won’t accept the body without the challan. That’s why we want to see that.”Justice JB Pardiwala, part of the three-judge bench, highlighted the discrepancies with the post-mortem report as well.“There is no reference to the challan of the body. Where was the challan of the body when It was handed over for post-mortem” he asked. If that document is missing then something is out of place, he added. He asked the CBI, investigating the case, to inquire about the missing document.However, the Solicitor General pointed out that the document not being present during the post-mortem leaves the possibility open of it being created subsequently. Sibal dismissed the claims saying, “Nothing is being created subsequently. We will file an affidavit.”The Supreme Court asked the CBI to submit a fresh report by September 17. The top court also directed the protesting resident doctors in West Bengal to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday. At the outset, the West Bengal government told the top court that 23 people have died as doctors are on strike protesting the rape and murder of the postgraduate medic. Sibal submitted a status report filed by the state health department.
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