Trials in the case of double murder of Prof. Papiya Ghosh of Patna University and Malti Devi on 3rd December 2006 at Patna
To: Cs-Bihar@nic.in TO, Shri Tripurari Sharan, IAS, Chief Secretary, Govt of Bihar, Patna Dear Mr. Sharan, As the 15th anniversary of the murder of my sister, Professor Papiya Ghosh of Patna University, approaches, I request the Government of Bihar to provide information on the status of the two Trials as below, which have been denied to me for years , inspite of several communications to the Chief Minister and your predecessors. The first Trial against five accused, STNo 188 of FTC, 2007 , Patna, had delivered a guilty verdict in 2008, with the death penalty for one accused ( not confirmed, however, by the Patna High Court) and varying terms of imprisonment for the others, which was reportedly challenged in the Supreme Court in a Criminal Appeal Case , Ram Chandra Mahto vs. State of Bihar, No. 10327/10. No details or developments of the case are available with me , inspite of many attempts to obtain them by corresponding with Shri Gopal Singh, Standing Counsel of the Bihar Government in Delhi. In the second Trial, taken up after a long gap in 2012, in FT Court, ST No 1015 of ADJ 3, First Civil Court Patna, where astonishingly murder was NOT included as a charge, there has been evidently no progress on various grounds, inter-alia, related to case records not being provided, witnesses not showing up etc. As conveyed by Anil Kumar Sinha, Public Prosecutor, Government of Bihar (Mobile no 9905299936) the matter has reached a dead end. In the circumstances, I urge you, as an aggrieved family member and a former Service colleague, to advise the concerned officials to take the following steps on an URGENT BASIS and kindly intimate the particulars to me via email or telephonically (Mobile- 9899811334). 1) Take up the matter- if not already done- in the Supreme Court so that the Appeal against the 2008 verdict is dismissed. 2) Take necessary steps so that the second Trial, referred to above includes the charge of murder u/s 302 IPC and is carried to its logical conclusion expeditiously. My father, Ujjal Kumar Ghosh, 1AS, I may add, was also a victim of a grisly Crime, while holding a senior position in the Government of Bihar, way back in 1957! Both my father and sister, who contributed much in their own way to the State, await justice. The macabre murders are an indelible blot on the State and agonising delay in securing justice a great shame, to put it very politely. I hope you will acknowledge and respond, unlike the others in the set-up, who preceded you. With best wishes, Dr. Tuktuk Ghosh, 1AS (Rtd) New Delhi.