NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday in its order rejected the appeal filed by Manjusha, the wife of the deceased ADM, in Kerala, Naveen Babu, seeking an "impartial and independent" CBI probe into his death.
"There is merit in the appeal (filed by the petitioner, Manjusha). We reject the same," said a two-judge bench of the top court, led by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Vinod Chandran, in its order.
While refusing to interfere with the Kerala High Court's order, which refused to direct a CBI investigation, the apex court said no ground was found to transfer the investigation to CBI, and accordingly, we disposed of the case.
P P Divya, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was accused of abetting Babu's suicide by levelling public allegations of corruption at his farewell.
Manjusha in her appeal alleged a homicidal angle to the incident and claimed that due to Divya's political influence, the investigation must be carried out by an impartial and independent agency like the CBI or Crime Branch.
Manjusha, in her appeal filed in the top court, alleged that Babu was disturbed prior to his death by Divya's remarks in the public event. Hearing this, the top court said, "It doesn't mean one commits suicide for that, right? You can't...abetment of suicide in every case".
Senior Advocate Sunil Fernandes, appearing for Manjusha, submitted to the SC that Babu had an impeccable service record of 30 years and was at the fag end of his career (7 months left of tenure as ADM).
Primarily, Manjusha moved a writ petition before the Single Judge bench of the Kerala High Court seeking a CBI probe, which was dismissed on February 6.
While rejecting the plea, the HC observed that the CBI investigation cannot be ordered merely because the accused had ties with the ruling political dispensation.
The HC further in its order remarked that the petitioner (Manjusha) could not point to any material flaw in the ongoing investigation, warranting a CBI probe.