KOCHI: Challenging the Kerala High Court verdict ordering a CBI probe into the brutal murder of two Youth Congress workers --- Kripesh and Sarathlal --- at Periya, Kasaragod, the state government has informed the Supreme Court that the case did not fall under the category of ‘rare and exceptional cases’ that necessitate a CBI probe. The state government filed a Special Leave Petition on Saturday seeking to set aside the Kerala High Court’s order. Meanwhile, the parents of the deceased youths said they would file a caveat before the SC seeking fair hearing before deciding the matter.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Government’s persistent efforts to block a CBI probe into the Periya double murder case has been condemned by political opponents and critics. When Kerala has eminent lawyers like Advocate General C P Sudhakara Prasad, the government brought former solicitor general Ranjith Kumar and senior Supreme Court lawyer Maninder Singh to appear for the state before the division bench.
The government has spent around `88 lakh to oppose a CBI probe into the gruesome murder. The Congress allege that the government is bent on keeping away the CBI as the CPM fears that the role of their leaders will be exposed.
No rare & exceptional circumstance found for ordering CBI probe: Govt
“This amountS to looting of public exchequer as the government has already spent nearly `1 crore to avoid a CBI probe into the case. The government is trying to protect the murderers instead of safeguarding the interests of the families of the victims. The state is duty-bound to ensure justice to the victims. Besides, this won’t be legally sustainable,” political commentator Advocate A Jayasankar told TNIE.
In the petition accessed by TNIE, the state government pointed out the judgment of the division bench of the High Court was not in conformity with the settled principle laid down by the Supreme Court in ‘Sakiri Vasu vs State of Uttar Pradesh’ case in 2008. There are no rare and exceptional circumstances which have been found in this case by the High Court for ordering a CBI probe.Besides, there was no allegation or finding of any bias in the investigation by the 20-member Special Investigation Team (SIT). The materials collected by the SIT clearly reveal that the state police had carried out a thorough investigation in an entirely professional manner. The division bench had only found some perceived gap in the investigation after examining the case diary.
According to the government, the direction for further investigation by the CBI on the basis of such perceived gap, which may be found in any probe, was contrary to the law laid down by Supreme Court.
If the High Court had wanted further probe on certain aspects to be carried out, it ought to have directed the SIT constituted by the state police chief or any other wing of the state police headed by senior police officers to carry out the probe on those aspects.
CBI still waiting for case diary
Though the CBI has initiated a probe into the Periya twin murder following the order of the division bench of the Kerala High Court, the state police have not handed over the case diary to the agency. The CBI also sent a letter seeking a directive to the SIT to hand over the case diary.