Supreme Court Directs CBI To Investigate Death Of Chhattisgarh Senior Judicial Officer's Wife

The Supreme Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate into the death of the wife of a senior judicial officer in Chattisgarh.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale passed the direction allowing an appeal filed by the mother and the brother of the deceased, Ranjana Diwan.

In 2014, Ranjana Diwan got married to Manvendra Singh(respondent no.7 in the petition) who was appointed as an Additional District Judge in 2013 after getting selected in the Chhattisgarh Higher Judicial Service.

In May 2016, the appellants received a phone call informing them that the Ranjana had died by suicide. They suspected something suspicious about her death and claimed that they were not shown a copy of the post-mortem report initially.

The Police filed the closure report treating it to be a case of suicide. Seeking proper investigation, they filed a writ petition before the Chhatisgarh High Court. In May 2023, the High Court disposed of the petition giving the petitioners liberty to avail the remedy of filing a complaint before the Magistrate as per Section 156(3) of the CrPC.

Before the Supreme Court, the petitioners raised apprehensions about fair investigation being undermined due to the power and influence of respondent no.7 who is a serving judicial officer. They highlighted that the post-mortem had reference to six antemortem injuries, for which there was no explanation. The State of Chhattisgarh took the stand that fair investigation at the highest level was carried out.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta suggested that the Court may consider appointing a high-level Special Investigation Team or in the alternative may direct the CBI to investigate the matter as this will provide credibility and instill confidence not only in the aggrieved party but also in the society at large.

The Court deemed it fit to order a CBI enquiry considering the fact that the respondent no.7 was a judicial officer.

"Considering the fact that the respondent no.7 is a senior judicial officer any doubt or apprehension in the minds of the appellants who have lost their family member may be dispelled by the investigation being carried out by CBI. This may result into doing complete justice and enforcing the fundamental right of getting a fair investigation," the Court observed.

"In the present case, the aggrieved party has raised allegations of bias and undue influence on the police machinery of the State of Chhattisgarh. Coupled with the fact that the thorough, fair and independent investigation needs to be carried out to find out the truth about the whole incident and in particular about the ante mortem injuries. We are of the view that such a direction needs to be issued in the present case," the Court said.

The Court directed the CBI to complete the investigation expeditiously, given that the incident was of 2016, and to submit a report to it. The State of Chhattisgarh was directed to extend all cooperation to the CBI in conducting the investigation and provide all necessary papers and other strategic support to the CBI as may be required.

The Court clarified that it has not expressed anything on the merits and that the CBI should carry out the investigation uninfluenced by any observation in the judgment.

Case Title : Mandakini Diwan and Anr. v. The High Court of Chhattisgarh & Ors

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 672

Click here to read the judgment