SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh High Court today exempted the CBI Director from personal appearance in the Kotkhai rape and murder case after accepting an affidavit filed by him.
Expressing dismay over the slow pace of the probe, the high court had earlier directed the CBI Director to file an affidavit by today and had stated that the officer will personally appear court on May 9, if the court is not satisfied by his response.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Sharma today accepted the affidavit filed by the CBI Director and expressed satisfaction over the CBI report.
The court directed the CBI to file the final status report by May 29, the next day of hearing.
During the last hearing on April 25, the high court had expressed dismay over "leaking" of status reports filed in sealed cover in the case and had asked the CBI as to how these reports are being published in the media.
The CBI had told the court that it was the last report and the charge sheet against the accused would be filed within the prescribed time period of 90 days by July 11.
The agency had claimed to have solved the case with the arrest of key accusedAnil Kumar (25) alias Nilu, a resident of Baijnath in Kangra district on April 14 and had urged the court to exempt the Director from personal appearance in the Court.
However, the court had said that decision in this regard would be taken after perusing the affidavit filed by the Director.
A teenaged girl in Kotkhai area of Shimla was found raped and murdered in the forests of Kotkhai area in July last year.
The local police had arrested some suspects but the CBI probe exonerated them as they had come clean during lie detector tests.