NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Madras High Court order quashing the chargesheet filed by TN Police in the BSP leader Armstrong murder case.
The bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and NV Anjaria, however, refused to stay the HC’s direction transferring the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
According to the prosecution, Armstrong, a prominent Dalit leader, was allegedly brutally hacked to death on July 5, 2024, outside his residence in Perambur, Chennai, by a group of armed assailants.
The SC passed the interim order after hearing senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing the TN government, and issued notice on the State’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the Madras HC order.
On September 24, the HC’s single-judge bench of Justice P. Velmurugan passed an order after hearing a petition by Armstrong’s brother, Keynos, who sought a CBI probe.
Keynos, in his petition, alleged that there were numerous shortcomings in the investigation being conducted by the TN police. After hearing the plea, the HC held that there were procedural lapses in the investigation and material contradictions in the chargesheet. Thereby, the HC ordered a CBI probe.
This HC order was challenged by the TN government before the top court, through an SLP, as it argued that the police had filed a comprehensive chargesheet running into 7,411 pages and arraying 30 accused persons, which was quashed by the HC in a “casual manner”.