It rapped CBI and SIT for not being able to nab the culprits in the murders.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Special Investigating Team (SIT) for slow progress in the investigations into the murders of rationalists Dr Narendra Dabholkar and Dr Govind Pansare.
A division bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari and Justice Bharati Dangre was hearing petitions seeking court monitoring of the probes and observed that "The situation in the state is not very pleasant. Stones are pelted at policemen, mobs are on roads, buses are being burnt. This is a tragic phase in the country."
It rapped CBI and SIT for not being able to nab the culprits in the murders. "Your officers travel from Kashmir to Tripura and come back with nothing," it said, while refusing to accept the probe reports filed by agencies, "Are they going on joy rides? This will have a bad bearing on the society. Governments will change but the investigation has to be done. You keep giving the same facts in your reports. Why is there no progress?"
The bench also asked the agencies to adopt new investigation methods. Referring to the progress in Gauri Lankesh murder investigation, in which the Karnataka police have arrested the accused, the bench said "If things are not taken to their final conclusion, soon a situation will arise where every reformist, liberal, social thinker will be afraid to voice his/her opinion and may be in future, most of them will have to be given personal security."
The bench gave the agencies two more months. "Come out with results," it said. "We are not satisfied with the progress. Soon, it will be festival season and everyone will be busy in bandobast duty. After that is over, you will pat your own back for doing good work. If there is no progress in these cases, it will reflect badly, even on the HC."
COURT OBSERVES
- A division bench was hearing petitions seeking court monitoring of the probes
- The court also chastised the bodies for the breakdown of the law and order situation in the state
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