Who is Dr Sandip Ghosh, the Kolkata hospital ex-principal whose 'influence' has raised eyebrows

Doctors and medical students protest against Kolkata rape

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the former principal of Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital, Dr Sandip Ghosh, to go on long leave after the state government appointed him as the principal of another college following his resignation from RG hospital.

Notably, he was appointed as principal of Calcutta National Medical College (CNMC) within hours of his resignation.

“If the principal has stepped down owing moral responsibility, rather serious that he is rewarded within 12 hours with another appointment. There is an apprehension that with lost time there is something that will go wrong,” Live Law India posted on X, quoting the court as saying.

Ghosh who initially attempted to dismiss the case as a suicide and said "it was irresponsible of the girl to go to the seminar hall alone at night", later declared "the girl who died was like my daughter...as a parent, I am resigning".

"Doctors are on strike... hospitals are not functioning, and patients are suffering. This is not in Bengal alone but across India. We need to take into account their feelings also. Their colleague has been brutally raped and murdered," the court observed, pointing out the doctors had also not been impleaded.

Victim doctor's father told the court: "We were told at 9.30 pm she was unwell... then (told) she committed suicide. The hospital did not allow me to see my daughter."

Reacting to this, the court thundered: "No man is above the law...How did he step down and then be rewarded with another responsibility?"

Who is Dr Sandip Ghosh

Known for his close ties to the ruling Trinamool Congress, Ghosh has been running the hospital like his personal fiefdom through threats and intimidation, alleged students and staff.

Several claimed that there have been serious allegations of corruption against him that led to his transfer twice, but he managed to join back soon.

According to a report in NDTV, in June 2023, although he was transferred to Murshidabad Medical College, he locked the principal’s room and barred his successor from assuming office. He was reinstated within 48 hours.
Again in September 2023, he was transferred following a ragging-related incident in the boys’ hostel, but students close to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) prevented the newly appointed principal from assuming charge for five days, the NDTV report said.

Ghosh again returned to the RG Kar within one month. This followed transfer of a deputy superintendent of the hospital who accused him of running a racket.

NDTV quoted Dr Manas Gumta, former secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors, in its report: “There is ample evidence against the principal. He was responsible for the safety of the hospital, and he failed. It is shocking that the state government has not yet removed him from his post. He was not even questioned by the police. The police must seize his phone and take him into custody for a fair investigation."