HC orders CBI probe into alleged Dowry Death of 29 y/o woman

November 06, 2018:

On Tuesday, Allahabad High Court has ordered a CBI inquiry into the death of a 29-year-old woman, who was allegedly beaten & tortured by her in-laws for dowry.

Bench comprising of Justice Bala Krishna Narayana & Justice Ravindra Nath Kakkar has directed the Central agency to file the report in the case within 2 months.

Court was hearing a petition filed by the woman’s father, who alleged that his daughter was mentally & physically tortured by her in-laws for dowry.

He claimed that she was admitted in an unconscious state on May 8 to a hospital in Gautam Budh Nagar’s Badlapur area, where she succumbed to her injuries on May 13.

Considering the question whether the investigation in the case before it was being conducted in a fair & impartial manner, the court noted the non-compliance with the provisions for arrest under Sections 41 & 41(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure as well as Sections 174 (police to inquire and report on suicide) and 176 (inquiry by Magistrate into cause of death) of the CrPC.

It further noted that several applications had been filed before authorities such as the National Commission for Women and the Inspector General, but without any respite.

Court observed,“In spite of submitting these applications to the various authorities, no action has been taken by the respondents, which compels the victim to file this petition against the biased and tainted investigation of the case and relief for fair and impartial investigation has been sought by way of this writ petition before us.”

Thus it transferred the case to the CBI and ordered, “The Investigating Officer of this case shall hand over the case diary and the other material collected by him till date during investigation to the C.B.I. The Director of C.B.I. shall thereafter appoint an officer who shall make every possible endeavour to investigate this case in a fair and impartial manner and complete the investigation as early as possible preferably within a period of two months from the date on which he is entrusted with the investigation of this case.”