BINDU Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner is the widow of one Rajesh, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances. She has filed the above writ petition complaining that a fair and proper investigation is not conducted in the investigation of the crime registered over the death of Rajesh, in which, she suspects of complicity of some senior police officers as well. Investigation of the aforesaid crime has to be taken over and handed over to the 2nd respondent, Central Bureau of Investigation agency, for short, the 'CBI', with direction to expedite its completion, exercising extraordinary powers of this Court issuing a writ, order or direction, is her plea. Pending the writ petition, investigation of the crime being completed by the Crime Branch Crime Investigation Department, for short, the 'CBCID', filing a final report before the magistrate, petitioner has amended the writ petition to seek a further relief that the final report (Ext.P14) laid before the court be quashed with an order directing further investigation of the crime.

(2.) Rajesh, the victim, was found dead in a sitting position in his autorickshaw on the early morning of 28.04.2011 in front of Victoria Hospital, Kollam. A crime was registered over the death of Rajesh under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for short, 'Code', at Kollam Police Station. Ext.P1 is copy of the FIR and Ext.P1(a) copy of first information statement of that crime. Initially, the investigation over the crime was conducted by local police and later it was taken over by the CBCID, Kollam, and as stated earlier, pending the writ petition, a final report indicting some accused persons for committing the murder of Rajesh has been filed before the magistrate and committal proceedings thereof are stated to be pending.

(3.) Petitioner, the widow of Rajesh, has filed this writ petition producing a number of annexures, some of them newspaper reports which appeared in the print media right from the detection of death of Rajesh under suspicious circumstances, and, throughout various stages of investigation of the crime. Such newspaper reports imputed involvement of some senior police officers in the murder of Rajesh, to cover up their involvement in the brutal assault made on a staff reporter of a daily, namely, V.B.Unnithan of Mathrubhoomi newspaper. Rajesh, who had criminal antecedents was involved in the brutal assault on the aforesaid staff reporter, with some anti -social elements, and the attack on such reporter was arranged by a business magnet at Kollam, for and on behalf of some senior police officers of that station since that reporter had published news item regarding their nefarious and unlawful activities of such police officers, is the case of the petitioner. In the crime registered over the murder of that reporter, investigation of which was later taken and handed over to the CBCID, some of the witnesses questioned had disclosed the involvement of Rajesh as one among the assailants of the reporter and, at that stage, to silence him forever his brutal murder was committed, and he happened to be a victim in a preplanned scheme to shut out the evidence in Unnithan's case, according to the petitioner. Pursuant to demand made by media people, investigation of the crime in Unnithan's case was handed over to the CBI. They have arrested one senior police officer and he was then remanded to judicial custody. Some other police officers had been transferred from the station. Death of Rajesh occurred at a time when investigation was in progress in Unnithan's murder case and he was about to be arrested in connection with that case. Rajesh, according to the police, knew about the conspiracy which led to the assault on Unnithan. Though the inquest report (Ext.P4) prepared over the body of Rajesh disclosed that he was murdered, no serious investigation was conducted, and even recording the statement of relatives and his friends was done as a formality. Exts.P8, P9 and P12 are newspaper reports published in two dailies indicated that a police officer had been questioned during the investigation of the crime suspecting his involvement in the commission of murder of Rajesh. During the investigation of Unnithan's case, Santhosh Kumar, a police officer in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, who was granted pardon by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ernakulam, had disclosed that the Superintendent of Police of Crime Branch forced him to cover up the names of the accused in the case. Ext.P11 is copy of a newspaper report indicating so, is produced. Disclosures made by the aforesaid police officer Santhosh Kumar also disclose the involvement of another police officer, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, namely, Rasheed in the murder of Rajesh. Exts.P12 and P13 are two other newspaper reports indicating so. Petitioner alleges that police officers who had complicity in the assault of Unnithan, a staff reporter, are involved in the murder of Rajesh also. Since such police officers are involved, any investigation by any wing of the State Police will not be fruitful, is her case complaining that attempts are being made up to cover up and screen the police officers involved by the investigating agency. Omitting the real culprits a final charge sheet naming some persons who committed overtacts in the murder leaving aside the conspirators primarily responsible for the murder of the victim is planned by investigating agency. Since the culprits involved in the murder of Rajesh includes police officers of the State Police Force, investigation of the crime by an independent agency, CBI, is absolutely essential to safeguard the ends of justice, according to the petitioner. She has therefore sought for an order/direction to hand over the investigation of the crime registered over the death of Rajesh to CBI. As indicated earlier, by amendment, an additional relief is canvassed to quash Ext.P14 charge which has been filed during the pendency of the petition before the magistrate by the CBCID, who conducted investigation of the crime.