PATNA: Patna High Court, which is monitoring the CBI investigation into the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuses case, once again pulled up the central agency on Wednesday over the sudden transfer of the SP heading the probe and asked it to form a SIT and ensure faster probe into the case.
Conducting a hearing on the matter for the third consecutive day, a Bench of Chief Justice Mukesh R Shah and Justice Ravi Ranjan ordered that the progress of the probe be monitored by CBI special director Rakesh Asthana. "If there is a necessity to ensure a faster probe, a special investigation team may be formed to conduct the probe," said the Chief Justice.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the explanation CBI offered about the transfer of its SP, JP Mishra, on August 21, the Bench asked the central agency to furnish before it the official communication that led to the transfer. While CBI DIG Abhay Singh was present at the court during the hearing in the past two days, his absence on Wednesday irked the Bench.
The HC also appointed a lawyer, Prakritika Sharma, to conduct discreet interviews with the 34 minor girls who were allegedly sexually abused over a period of time during their stay at the government-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur and submit a report to the court. Besides, the HC also asked the Bihar government to present before it a comprehensive report about the shelter homes run by the social welfare department in the state during the next hearing scheduled on September 17.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the HC had directed the Bihar State Legal Services Authority and the state government to pay compensation to the victims of the sexual abuse at the shelter home within three weeks. The court asked the government to ensure that the victims' identity is not disclosed during the process.Ever since it took over the probe on July 29, CBI has conducted several raids across Bihar, including on the residences of former social welfare minister Manju Verma and her husband.
Ten people, including Brajesh Mishra, the chief of the NGO running the shelter home, were arrested by the state police in June. The transfer of CBI SP JP Mishra evoked sharp criticism from the Opposition parties, who suspected it of aiming at derailing the probe in order to protect influential people who had a role in the scandal.