Blitz Bureau
THE Supreme Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the death of the wife of a senior judicial officer in Chhattisgarh.
A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale passed the direction allowing an appeal filed by the mother and the brother of the deceased, Ranjana Diwan, according to Live Law.
In 2014, Ranjana Diwan got married to Manvendra Singh (respondent no.7) who was appointed as an Additional District Judge in 2013 after getting selected in the Chhattisgarh Higher Judicial Service.
In May 2016, the appellants received a phone call informing them that the Ranjana had died by suicide. They suspected something suspicious about her death and claimed that they were not shown a copy of the postmortem report initially.
The police filed the closure report treating it to be a case of suicide. Seeking proper investigation, they filed a writ petition before the Chhatisgarh High Court.
In May 2023, the High Court disposed of the petition giving the petitioners liberty to avail the remedy of filing a complaint before the magistrate as per Section 156(3) of the CrPC.
Before the Supreme Court, the petitioners raised apprehensions about fair investigation being undermined due to the power and influence of respondent no.7 who is a serving judicial officer. They highlighted that the post-mortem had reference to six antemortem injuries, for which there was no explanation. The State of Chhattisgarh took the stand that fair investigation at the highest level was carried out.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta suggested that the court may consider appointing a high-level Special Investigation Team or in the alternative may direct the CBI to investigate the matter as this will provide credibility and instil confidence not only in the aggrieved party but also in the society at large. The court deemed it fit to order a CBI enquiry considering the fact that the respondent no.7 was a judicial officer.
“Considering the fact that the respondent no.7 is a senior judicial officer any doubt or apprehension in the minds of the appellants who have lost their family member may be dispelled by the investigation being carried out by CBI. This may result into doing complete justice and enforcing the fundamental right of getting a fair investigation,” the court observed.
