Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday transferred the probe into the killing of former Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) observing that if all angles of a case are not examined as in the present case, “it would lead to travesty of justice”.
While transferring the investigation to the central agency, the HC noted that it was a cold-blooded murder, captured live, and an incident that shook the conscience of the public. “It was a cold-blooded murder captured live, an incident which shook the conscience of one and all,” a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Shyam Chandak said.
About Ghosalkar's Killing On FB Live
Ghosalkar was killed by businessman and social worker Mauris Noronha on February 8 during a Facebook live session in suburban Borivali. Noronha used his bodyguard Amarendra Mishra’s gun. Noronha subsequently allegedly killed himself.
His widow Tejasvee Ghosalkar approached the HC seeking a probe by the CBI. Her plea raised a grievance that the investigating agency has “not made any concrete justifiable breakthrough” on the “untimely and highly suspicious, serious, ruthless, brutal, heinous, gruesome, broad daylight, cold-blooded murder killing” of her husband.
The case was initially probed by the MHB Colony police station and was then taken over by the Mumbai Crime Branch. The HC had not transferred the probe to the CBI.
Highlighting the need to probe the case from all angles, the HC said it is necessary to provide credibility and instil confidence in investigation. “If all angles of a case are not examined as in the present case, it would lead to travesty of justice. Therefore, even if there are innocent lapses in the investigation, it cannot be allowed to continue, as it would ultimately result in denial of a fair and impartial investigation, leading to miscarriage of justice, which cannot be permitted,” the court underlined.
It added: “It is trite that, where it becomes necessary to provide credibility and instil confidence in investigation, that the investigation can be transferred to another agency. Unarguably, quality of investigation is an important aspect to detect the crime and book the perpetrator of the crime.”
The bench noted that after considering the material collected during the investigation, it felt that some angles have not been investigated or looked into and hence deeper investigation needs to be done. “We have gone through the investigation carried out and find that there are some loose ends/areas which have not been examined by the police. We, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, deem it appropriate to transfer the investigation to an independent agency like the CBI, so as to retain public confidence and to ensure that justice is done, considering what is observed by us herein-above,” the court remarked.
The HC has directed the police to hand over the investigation papers to the CBI at the earliest, within two weeks. It has asked the zonal director of the CBI to appoint an IPS cadre officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police to investigate the case. It said that the CBI is at liberty to appoint the team of officers.
The bench has clarified that the transfer of investigation of the crime in question to CBI is “not a reflection on the efficiency or efficacy of the investigation done by the Crime Branch”.
