The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government in the case pertaining to the death of Professor H S Sabharwal, who died while trying to pacify agitated factions of students during college elections in Ujjain.

The apex court sought to know from the state government and police why the matter should not be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, as the state police had not been able to protect the witnesses of the case.

The two-judge bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat directed that an officer, not below the rank of a Deputy Inspector General, will personally supervise the manner in which a key witness in the case was threatened, eventually leading to his disappearance from Ujjain.

The matter would not be heard on November 3 when the state government will present the status report of the case.

Himanshu Sabharwal, the son of the slain professor, had on September 12 moved the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the incident alleging that Madhya Pradesh government was not holding an impartial probe.

The petition said that the state government was not ready to accept that the victim died as a result of the assault by the student leaders. Instead, the leader of the ruling party in the state had been reportedly making statements in favour of the accused.