BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court has handed over the investigation into the murder of former Kolar Zilla Panchayat president M Srinivas to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), citing serious lapses in the probe conducted by both the local police and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The court directed the CBI to conduct a fresh investigation from the beginning and submit a final report within three months to the trial court.
“In the facts and circumstances of the case, noticing the fulcrum of the investigation, the subject case emerges as a classic illustration for transfer of investigation to CBI, not for the conduct of the further investigation, but for the conduct of the de-novo investigation. This direction is not merely warranted, it is imperative, as both the local police and the CID have completely drowned the whispers of truth into deep waters by slipshod investigations. Therefore, the entire investigation is required to be transferred to the CBI for its conduct de novo," Justice M Nagaprasanna observed.
The court passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Dr S Chandrakala, wife of Srinivas, who had taken voluntary retirement as a government doctor to fight for justice for her family. She sought a CBI investigation, alleging that political pressure had influenced the local police’s probe.
Srinivas, who was planning to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Kolar, was murdered by a gang armed with lethal weapons on 23 October 2023 at a construction site near Hugalagere Road. Initially, the local police handled the case, but after allegations of political interference, the state government transferred the probe to the CID. However, the CID merely relied on the materials collected by the local police and filed a charge sheet on 17 January 2024, without making further efforts.
Chandrakala had also requested the chief minister to transfer the case to the CBI, but her plea was ignored, leading her to approach the High Court.
Special Public Prosecutor C H Hanumantharaya admitted that the investigation was so poorly conducted that it failed to follow even the basic principles of criminal investigation. He acknowledged that both the local police and the CID had not made any serious efforts to uncover the truth.
"It is a sorry state of affairs when the investigation is carried out in this manner in a case of murder, and I cannot defend such investigations," he told the court.
The court observed that the failure of both agencies to conduct a proper investigation had eroded public confidence in the justice system, especially in murder cases. It further noted that the CID is not an independent investigative agency in the strictest sense, as most of its officers are on deputation from the general police wing, except for a few permanent detectives.
“It is, therefore, the investigation be handed over to CBI for conduct of free and fair investigation, which perhaps would be neither shoddy nor lopsided," the court remarked.