“The dubious conduct and attitude of the then head of CBI Thiruvananthapuram unit ASP Nandakumar Nair in the Sampath custodial death case probe is reflected in the case diary of Haridath’s suicide case”, the Kerala High Court observed on Thursday. Coming down heavily on the CBI official, the High Court said, “It is a shame on the CBI to have such an officer at the helm of affairs. It would appear that it is he who is to be disciplined and bridled. The conduct of Nandakumar Nair in trying to protect ADGP Muhammed Yasin, who is allegedly involved in Sampath death case, is quite evident”.
Justice P Bhavadasan made the observation while granting anticipatory bail to suspended CBI inspectors S Unnikrishnan Nair and K K Rajan whose names were mentioned in Haridath’s suicide note.
Counsel for the petitioners Pirappancode V S Sudheer submitted that the petitioners sought permission from Nandakumar Nair to array 18 persons as accused including the two officials. This infuriated Nandakumar and thereafter things began to change. Memo after memo were issued against the petitioners, Sudheer said.
“From the file, it could be seen that the claim made by the petitioners that Nandakumar was annoyed and infuriated and then he began to meddle with the investigation is quite true. Nandakumar kept on issuing memos against the officers and it is clear that he was bent on seeing that they did not function in terms of the orders issued by the Court. He also went to the extent of making adverse entries in the petitioners’ confidential reports”, the Court observed. It also said that Nandakumar did not stop at that and even went to the extent of making statements criticising the order of the Court. He has the audacity to state that the Court had made a false statement in its order, the judgment stated. The Court also held that the attitude displayed by the CBI even after orders were passed by the Court in Sampath case is very disturbing and objectionable. Finally, the final report filed in the Sampath case by the CBI was rejected by the Magistrate Court. “Things went on well till the two IPS officers were implicated as accused in the case and then it took a dramatic turn.
It is seen from the records that Haridath initially resisted the dictates of two top officials - OP Galhotra and SK Peshin”, the Court observed and said that the result was total dismay and disruption caused to the probe in Sampath case.