THE GREAT GOOF-UP
The Mumbai police made a series of mistakes, prompting the Bihar police to file an FIR and the case subsequently being transferred to the CBI. A look at what went wrong
NOT FILING AN FIR
The Supreme Court, in 2013, had ruled that an FIR is mandatory in a cognisable case. The Mumbai police remained under the misapprehension that their filing an Accidental Death Report (ADR), under section 174 of CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code), which is the first thing to do, would not be challenged. This section is limited to an inquiry into the cause of an apparent unnatural death. As this is not a full-fledged probe, the Mumbai police could not defend themselves against the allegation that they were not serious about investigating the case.
LOSING THE PERCEPTION BATTLE
The Mumbai police hounded the Bihar police officers who had landed in the city to investigate Sushant’s death. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation sent Patna city SP Vinay Tewari into a 14-day quarantine. All of this created a perception that the Mumbai police were trying to hide something.
MUM ON ALLEGATIONS
The Mumbai police did not officially react on the allegations of their Bihar counterparts. Several friends of Sushant, in media interviews, had raised questions about his death. The police made no efforts to clear their doubts.
NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION
Sushant’s postmortem report mentions asphyxia due to hanging as the cause of death, but the approximate time of his death is missing. The Mumbai police did not share full details of the report, which perhaps could have discouraged speculation over the actor’s death.
JURISDICTION TANGLE
The Mumbai police thought they had the ultimate right to investigate the case as the crime took place in their jurisdiction. But on August 19, the Supreme Court made it clear that the police who have filed an FIR cannot be bound by jurisdiction. “Precedents suggest that at the stage of investigation, it cannot be said that the concerned police station does not have territorial jurisdiction to investigate the case.”