Narendra Dabholkar's Daughter Approaches SC Against HC's Refusal to Keep Monitoring CBI Probe

Dabholkar, an anti-superstition crusader, was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on August 20, 2013.

The Wire Staff

Dabholkar, an anti-superstition crusader, was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on August 20, 2013.

narendra dabholkar s daughter approaches sc against hc s refusal to keep monitoring cbi probe

File photo of Narendra Dabholkar.

New Delhi: The daughter of assassinated rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, Mukta Dabholkar, has approached the Supreme Court against the Bombay high court's refusal to continue monitoring the Central Bureau of Investigation probe into his murder.

Hearing the plea on Thursday (May 18), the Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ahsanuddin Amanullah asked the petitioner to serve copies of the petition and the Bombay high court's order to the CBI, LiveLaw reported.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Mukta, told the bench on Thursday that two absconding accused have not been found or arrested yet, and the CBI has said it is still conducting further investigations on whether there was a larger conspiracy.

Dabholkar, an anti-superstition crusader, was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on August 20, 2013. In April this year, nine years after Dabholkar was murdered, the Bombay high court had said that it will no longer be monitoring the probe and "no further monitoring is required".

"There cannot be perpetual monitoring. Some monitoring is fine but law is clear that when a charge sheet is filed, the rights of the accused are to be considered," the high court had said.

His family, however, has disputed this – saying the masterminds behind the murder are yet to be arrested. The CBI is also reportedly yet to trace the motorcycle or weapons used for the killing. The accused are allegedly linked to the extremist Hindu right organisation Sanatan Sanstha. The same organisation and people have been linked to the killings of CPI leader Govind Pansare, Kannada writer M.M. Kalburgi and journalist Gauri Lankesh.

In the Supreme Court on Thursday, the bench said the high court cannot monitor each investigation. To this, Grover replied that the CBI should complete its investigation, and until then the court should monitor it.

"Your point is that CBI should conclude investigation so that trial can begin?" the court then asked, according to LiveLaw, and Grover responded in the affirmative.

The matter will be heard again in the second week of July.

This article went live on May nineteenth, two thousand twenty three, at eight minutes past nine in the morning.

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