Kochi | The Kerala High Court on Friday ordered further probe by the CBI into the death of renowned violinist Balabhaskar allegedly in a car accident in 2019 that also claimed the life of his one-and-a-half year old daughter, saying that the agency handled the matter in "a casual and lackadaisical manner".
Justice G Girish pulled up the CBI for deputing an Inspector who was lower in rank to the agency's earlier investigating officer, who was an Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), and carried out the further probe "as a damage control exercise" to save his superior from blame.
"In fact, what has been done by the Inspector in the subsequent investigation was a damage control exercise to save his superior officer, who conducted the earlier investigation, from the blame of not having been serious on many material suspicious circumstances which were looming large.
"The aforesaid casual and perfunctory mode of investigation was adopted by the Inspector of CBI only because he cannot supersede the findings of the earlier Investigating Officer who was superior in rank," the High Court said.
The probe was initially handed over to the CBI on the request by Balabhaskar's parents and the ASP of the CBI, who investigated the matter, came to the conclusion that it was an accident.
The parents had sought a CBI probe, dissatisfied by the Crime Branch investigation into the incident as a mimicry artist named Kalabhavan Soby George had claimed that he saw a group of persons involved in gold smuggling attacking the vehicle in which Balabhaskar and his family were travelling on the day of the incident.
The Crime Branch ruled it an accident and the probe by the CBI's ASP also came to the same conclusion.
Subsequently, on the parents' plea, the High Court had ordered a further probe and pointed out 20 suspicious circumstances for the agency to investigate in connection with the incident.
"It is quite unfortunate to note that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which was expected to give its serious attention to the aforesaid 20 suspicious circumstances, took the matter in a casual and lackadaisical manner, and deputed an Inspector, lower in rank to the earlier Investigating Officer, to conduct the further investigation," the High Court said.
It said that the Inspector examined 117 witnesses, including those already questioned by his superior, and gave a report affirming the findings of the ASP who had conducted the earlier investigation.
The High Court said that despite serious observations in its earlier order for a further probe, the Inspector "embarked upon the further investigation in a manner more vulnerable than the flawed investigation pointed out by this Court".
"The course of procedure adopted by the Inspector towards arriving at the aforesaid findings cannot be said to be one which behove the status of skill, tactics and expertise which are expected from a premier investigating agency like the CBI.
"It could be seen that the methods applied by the above investigating officer were with the sole objective of showing that there was nothing wrong in the investigation conducted at the first instance by his superior officer," it said.
It further said that the Inspector made not efforts to adopt a professional dexterity of an agency like CBI to unravel the truth.
"... the request of the parents of the deceased musician to embark upon a further investigation by a competent officer, cannot be discarded even though the elapse of much time might have resulted in effacing of evidence," the court said.
It directed the CBI to pass necessary orders, within two weeks from receipt of the High Court order, entrusting the further probe in the case to an officer of proven integrity, not below the rank of Additional Superintendent of Police.
"The officer so entrusted with the investigation shall conduct the further probe by taking into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of the case and paying serious attention to the pertinent aspects pointed out by the court in its earlier order," the High Court said.
