West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya said Sandip Ghosh's bail did not prove innocence. He stressed that legal relief may reflect technical considerations rather than exoneration.
Kolkata,Oct 17, 2026 12:26 IST
West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Saturday said the bail granted to former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh did not establish his innocence, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Bhattacharya said emotions could not guide the law and that bail was a legal right. The Supreme Court on Thursday granted Ghosh bail in a case involving alleged financial irregularities at the hospital and manipulation of merit scores to favour undeserving candidates.
The proceedings against Ghosh came amid widespread protests over the rape and murder of a doctor at the hospital on August 9, 2024.
Referring to the protests, Bhattacharya told PTI, "Those associated with the 'Abhaya' movement are getting disheartened. But the law does not run on emotion. Bail is also a legal right of a person."
He said the grant of bail did not mean that Ghosh was innocent or had no connection with the alleged crime.
"It cannot be established that he is innocent or has no link with the crime just because he has got bail. In the court of public opinion, it is established that they were involved," Bhattacharya said.
He added that legal and technical considerations could also have played a role in the grant of bail.
The Supreme Court cited the nearly two years Ghosh had spent in custody and the slow progress of the trial while granting him relief. Ghosh had approached the court after a special CBI court rejected his bail pleas and the Calcutta High Court dismissed his petition.
A Sealdah court granted Ghosh bail in the rape and murder case in December 2024 after the CBI failed to file a chargesheet within the mandatory 90-day period. However, he remained in custody in the financial irregularities case.
The West Bengal government sanctioned his prosecution in the corruption case on May 18 this year.
Bhattacharya maintained that Ghosh's release on bail was a legal decision and did not amount to a finding of innocence in the cases against him.
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