Probe better when courts keep a tab: Justice Chandrachud on Pehlu Khan lynching

Cases in which probe were monitored by courts have shown a better outcome, Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud said, referring to acquittal of all the accused in the Pehlu Khan case.
Justice DY Chandrachud. (File Photo | PTI)
Justice DY Chandrachud. (File Photo | PTI)

MUMBAI: Cases in which probe were monitored by courts have shown a better outcome, Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud said, referring to acquittal of all the accused in the Pehlu Khan case.

“We see this repeatedly... This is one of the great torments of being a judge to have to decide on the basis of evidence as it stands,” the Supreme Court judge said.      

“And then you find the investigation by the police has been woefully inadequate either deliberately or just as a matter of incompetence, that it is going to result in an acquittal.”    

All six accused in the Pehlu Khan lynching case were acquitted due to “serious shortcomings” in the police probe.

“Cases where courts have been approached at an appropriate stage and have been able to monitor (the) investigation, have perhaps shown the better outcome.”

The SC judge cited the Kathua case in which the apex court had taken steps to ensure the probe was not “deflected”. 

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