Gujarat High Court: In a special criminal application moved by petitioner-father seeking transfer of the investigation of his son’s death to CBI, Hasmukh D. Suthar, J. said that no fruitful outcome of the investigation was given on record, despite various orders passed by the Court, hence, considering the seriousness of the offence and the inability of the respondent authority to detect an offence and the fact that more than nine years had passed without any fruitful outcome of investigation, the respondent authority was directed to hand over the investigation of the FIR to Central Bureau of Investigation, along with all related case documents for the investigation.
Background
On 15-12-2015, the minor son of the petitioner did not come back home from school. The trustee of the school informed the petitioner that all the students had left the school at the usual time. His son’s friends confirmed that they had all left the school at about 12:15 PM. The bicycle of the minor son was found next to the parking area near a shop. Later, the trustee mentioned that students informed him that the minor son had left with someone on a motorcycle. The petitioner searched for his son but could not find him.
A complaint was registered for the offenses punishable under Section 363 of the Penal Code, 1860. On 18-12-2015, the police found the dead body of the minor son who was murdered after being subjected to unnatural sexual intercourse. Consequently, Sections 377 and 302 were added to the charges. The petitioner raised concerns about the Mahants of the Swaminarayan Temple, where his son used to go for worship. However, the investigating officer did not pursue this line of inquiry, hence, the present application.
Vide Director General of Police’s order in 2017, considering the seriousness of the offence and registration of the FIR for offences punishable under Sections 363, 302, 377, and 201 of the IPC, Section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act, 1951 and Sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, a Special Investigation Team was constituted. The Court said that, in order dated 25-07-2024, the Court noted that, no fruitful outcome of the investigation was reported, and no suspect or offender was traced and considering the aforesaid fact, at the request of the Public Prosecutor, three weeks’ time was granted with a direction to the respondent authorities to investigate the offence and submit a report on or before the next date of hearing.
The Court after taking on record the report submitted by the authority, said that it was the same story, which indicated the inability to of the investigator to trace the suspect and offender or properly detect the offence.
[X. v. State of Gujarat, 2024 SCC OnLine Guj 3286, decided on: 16-08-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the petitioner: Advocate Gaurav Chudasama
For the respondent: APP HK Patel
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In this blog, you’ve highlighted an important legal development regarding the Gujarat HC transferring a sensitive case to the CBI. It’s a crucial update on the pursuit of justice after a prolonged investigation.