KOCHI : The Kerala High Court on Friday granted three more months to the CBI to complete further investigation into the death of violinist Balabhaskar in a road accident in 2018. The HC on October 5 last year directed the CBI to complete further probe within three months. This deadline expired on January 5, following which CBI filed a plea seeking to extend it by three months. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas issued the order on the application filed by CBI.
The agency submitted that despite earnest efforts, the investigating officer was not able to complete the probe into all points suggested by the court. Further, certain documents were obtained from DRI, CBI, and Anti-Corruption Bureau, which require close analysis. A conclusion can be made only after collecting all materials, the CBI submitted.
T M Raman Kartha, counsel for Balabhaskar’s father, submitted that there was a 15-day lapse by CBI to start further investigation. The probe officer has not conducted a scientific and technical investigation concerning the Balabhaskar’s phone. This is contrary to the pleadings already filed by CBI before the HC and the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Thiruvananthapuram, that they ‘have collected and examined scientific and technical evidence relating to the above phone’. Further, CBI has not started any investigation into the involvement of gold smuggling rackets in causing the accident. The parents of the deceased, the maternal uncle, and his cousin were questioned by an inspector of CBI as part of further investigation, but the attitude of the officer was negative as he kept on explaining the financial constraints of Lakshmi, the wife of Balabhaskar, whose bank accounts were allegedly kept dormant due to the pendency of the investigation.
Though the petitioner sought a directive to file an interim report on the progress of the probe, the court rejected it.
The violinist and his daughter died in a road accident in the wee hours of September 25, 2018. His wife was also seriously injured in the accident. The Single Judge had ordered a CBI probe on a petition filed by K C Unni, father of Balabhaskar, and Soby George, one of the witnesses in the case against the order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Thiruvananthapuram, rejecting their pleas for a further investigation.
The court had held that the investigation by CBI was not foolproof and that the circumstances arising in the case needed to be probed further. Hence, the investigating officer is directed to probe the case further, especially to identify whether there was any conspiracy or connection between the activities of gold smuggling and the accident on September 25, 2018, and the consequent death of Balabhaskar.