COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

HC issues notice on transfer of Jessica case to CBI

The Delhi high court today issued show-cause notices to the Union home ministry and the Delhi government on a petition seeking the transfer of the sensational Jessica Lal murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation in view of the 'high profile nature of the case'.

A division bench comprising Justices Anil Dev Singh and Mukul Mudgal directed the respondents to file their replies within the next three days and fixed the matter for further hearing on May 21.

The criminal writ petition, filed by the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Morcha through its counsel Mohammed Sajid, urged the court to order the CBI to investigate FIR number 287/1999 registered with the Mehrauli police station under sections 302, 301 and 212 of the Indian Penal Code.

The petition also demanded that a criminal case be registered against Bina Ramani, owner of Tamarind Court restaurant in south Delhi for tampering with evidence. The 34-year-old model was killed allegedly by Manu Sharma alias Siddharth Vashist in the restaurant premises.

The petition stated that a CBI probe was necessary as Ramani's close links with top government officials and political leaders were preventing the investigating officers from carrying out the probe impartially.

It expressed apprehension that the Delhi police, to save its own officers, would damage the case and will not book the main culprits behind the killing.

The petition quoted S K Sharma, who is the investigating officer in the case, as having told a magazine that, ''it is difficult to touch these people. They are big, they treat us like inferior beings. For Bina Ramani, in particular, a casual brush with the law seems to be a seasonal occurrence. Yet from Chandra Swamy to Romesh Sharma, the controversy has left her social standing unaffected''.

Meanwhile, co-accused Vikas Yadav, son of Rajya Sabha member D P Yadav, withdrew his anticipatory bail application before a Delhi court.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report