The Calcutta High Court has directed Dr. Sandip Ghosh, the former head of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, to take an extended leave following a recent scandal involving the rape and murder of a doctor at the institution.

Dr. Ghosh, who had come under scrutiny for alleged victim-blaming comments and failing to ensure staff safety, resigned on Monday, citing the tragic death of the doctor as deeply personal, but was reinstated as Principal of Calcutta Medical College just 24 hours later.

The court criticized the state’s handling of the case, including the delay in informing the victim's parents and possible protection of Dr. Ghosh.

"If the principal stepped down owing 'moral responsibility', (it is) rather serious that he is rewarded, within 12 hours, with another appointment. This Principal will not function... let him go on long leave. Otherwise we pass an order," the court said when told Dr Ghosh had been posted elsewhere.

During a hearing of multiple petitions, including one from the victim's parents seeking a court-monitored investigation, the court noted that the response to the tragedy seemed to have little impact on Dr. Ghosh. The parents accused state authorities of insensitivity, claiming they were misled about their daughter's condition and barred from seeing her. They argued that Dr. Ghosh, as the principal, should be held accountable and included as an accused in the case.

"No man is above the law..." the court thundered, "How did he step down and then be rewarded with another responsibility?" The court, which demanded the police's case diary by 2 pm, also directed Dr Ghosh's resignation letter be filed, observing, "... we want to see what he has written."

"...why do you protect (him)? Let him tell the truth... something is missing here," the court said at the end of a brief but intense hearing that included questions of the state government and the cops.

The court strongly criticized the authorities for failing to provide the parents with timely information about their daughter's rape and murder, and for denying them the opportunity to view her body.

"Condition in which body was found was gruesome... but state registered a suicide case. This shows conduct of the state..." senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya< representing the parents, said.

"If this is true... that they were made to wait and (then) misled... then the administration is (toying) with them. You cannot treat the deceased like this. There should be more sensitivity."

The other petitions heard today included pleas to transfer the investigation to the CBI and installation of additional security measures on hospital and medical college campuses, such as CCTV cameras.

"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 said, pointing out the doctors had also not been impleaded.

"You (the state) need to take note of their problem also. If one of their colleague was so brutally dealt, their feeling must also be noted. If we can get the name of an association, we can appeal to them... (but) what is the state doing?" the court asked.