KOCHI: Retired Supreme Court judge Justice R V Raveendran has turned down the Supreme Court’s request to supervise the NIA investigation into the Hadiya conversion case.
Officers with the NIA Kochi unit said the retired judge communicated his decision in this regard to the investigation officer at the NIA headquarters the day before. They said the apex court itself has to take the decision to find a replacement for Raveendran now.
“We only know Justice RV Raveendran has to supervise the case. The HQ will convey this to the Supreme Court, which will then take a decision,” and NIA officer said.
The officer said the NIA will continue with the probe. “The probe has started. We will soon record the statements of Hadiya’s parents and other related to her,” said the officer. NIA DSP P Vikram is the investigation officer.
The Supreme Court had on August 16 ordered an NIA probe into the case which was first probed by the Kerala Police.
Bengaluru-based Justice Raveendran was requested to supervise it.
A sum of Rs 1 lakh was fixed as remuneration for Raveendran for supervising the probe from Bengaluru. Were he to travel outside Bengaluru as part of the case, the remuneration fixed was Rs 2 lakh per day, besides reimbursements for travel, accommodation and secretarial expenses.
