Junaid case: High court rejects plea for CBI probe
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the lynching of Junaid Khan, a Faridabad youth, in June on board a Mathura-bound train, allegedly by right-wing sympathisers. ››
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Ha ryana high court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the lynching of Jun aid Khan, a Far ida bad youth, in June onboardaMathura-boundtrain, allegedly by right-wing sympathisers.
Pronouncing the judgment, the bench of Justice Ra jan Gupta said it was not a fit case for high court intervention and for handing over the investigation to the CBI. Junaid’s father Jalaluddin had approached the high court on October 25, seeking a CBI probe arguing that the Haryana Police had deliberately distorted all witnesses’ statements to introduce “ambiguity, discrepancies and contradictions” to benefit the accused.
Junaid (15) was stabbed to death when he along with his brothers was returning home to K hand aw li village after shopping for Eid in Delhi. His body was dumped close to Asaoti village in Faridabad district. Two persons — Naresh Kumar and Rameshwar Dass — have been charged with murder and four others were booked for other offences. Ha ryan a had def ended the probe arguing that the family did not lodge any protest in the trial court against the investigation. The bench observed that it appeared that after the incident was reported the investigating agency swung into action and looked for clues. “The investigating agency appears to have employed forensic and electronic means for cracking the crime. It is for this reason that all accused present at the spot at the time of occurrence are stated to have been identified despite the fact that no names were mentioned in the FIR,” justice Gupta said.
The bench said Jalaluddin’s plea that there was deliberate attempt to subvert or derail the investigation “lacks” substance. “The complainant’s grievance regarding non-inclusion of additional accused or omission of certain offence scan not be a ground for transfer of probe to the CBI, that too after proceedings have made some headway,” justice Gupta said. As of the petitioner’s allegation that the boy was murdered, because he was a Muslim, the court said the issue was dealt with by the trial court as well and if the father was still aggrieved he could raise the issue in trial court.
On the government’s claim that the family demanded ₹2 crore for settlement from the accused, the judge said the court did not intend to express any opinion on this. “The trial is at a crucial stage and it is necessary to ensure that trial proceeds in the right earnest,” the bench said.