The Patna High Court had agreed to monitor the CBI probe on the request of the Government of Bihar on August 6, giving two-week time to the CBI to submit the case progress report.
The Patna High Court on Thursday admonished the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its failure to submit the action taken report (ATR) in the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case and sought to know why a cop probing the case was transferred without the court’s knowledge.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mukesh R Shah and Justice Ravi Ranjan came down heavily on the lawyer representing the CBI for being unprepared for the hearing and seeking more time to submit the report. The court directed the central probe agency to submit a progress report of the case in a sealed envelope on August 27, when the case has been listed next.
The Patna High Court had agreed to monitor the CBI probe on the request of the Government of Bihar on August 6, giving two-week time to the CBI to submit the case progress report. It had also accepted the plea to conduct speedy trials in a special court in the case pertaining to the alleged rape and torture of at least 34 minor girls at a state-run Balika Grih in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district.
The judges also demanded an explanation from the CBI, as to why an SP-rank officer probing the case was shifted from the investigation without giving any information to the court, which is monitoring the case. “Why was a senior officer transferred just a few weeks into the investigation of the case?” the court said and asked the agency to file its reply along with the investigation details in the next hearing.
On August 21, the CBI transferred JP Mishra, an investigating officer in the case, as SP in the office of the DIG, Patna Range. he was replaced by Devendra Singh, SP, CBI (Anti-Corruption Bureau), Lucknow. The Opposition parties had raised questions over Mishra’s transfer and alleged it to be a “political influence to adversely affect the case”.
Following the court's observation regarding publishing of investigation details in the Muzaffarpur case in the media, Bihar's Social Welfare Department director on Thursday wrote to his counterpart in the state Information and Public Relations Department "to ensure that media houses do not publish information related to Muzaffarpur Balika Grih rape case and investigations into it." However, political observers have termed it to be a "gag order" wanting to know why the SWD has issued such letter when the court had made the observation to the CBI.
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