Family of Pansare seeks dissolving of SIT for failing to conduct ‘independent’ probe
Family members of Govind Pansare, the slain writer and thinker, on Monday urged the Bombay High Court to dissolve the special investigation team (SIT), which was constituted for probing the killing of the rationalist. This comes after the family claimed that the SIT has miserably failed to properly investigate the murder case of their loved one.
A bench of Justices Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel, accordingly, asked the Pansare family to make a separate application seeking to dissolve the SIT and to transfer the probe to some other investigation agency.
The bench was dealing with a bunch of criminal public interest litigations led by activist Ketan Tirodkar, seeking a court-monitored probe in the killings of Pansare and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar. Since 2015, the bench led by Justice Dharmadhikari has been monitoring the probe in the case.
On Monday, when the matter was taken up for hearing, advocate Abhay Nevagi, the counsel for the DabholkarPansare families, urged the court to dismantle the SIT and handover the probe to some other agency to further investigate the case.
Having heard the request, the court said, “For this request you (family) will have to make a separate application.”
Notably, the SIT has been facing the court’s wrath in the last few hearings for being “dependent” on the probe conducted by the CBI and Karnataka police, which are investigating the killings of Dabholkar and Gauri Lankesh, respectively. The bench had in an earlier hearing slammed the SIT for not conducting independent probe and just relying upon the findings of other cases.
Meanwhile, the CBI sought an extension of time for completing its search operations in the Thane creek. It has been searching the pistols allegedly disposed in the Thane creek. The central agency, which has called in expert divers from abroad, said it would require more two weeks time to complete its search operations. It may be noted that the bench has twice extended time for completion of the search operations.
On Monday too, the bench allowed the extension for further two weeks.
A bench of Justices Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel, accordingly, asked the Pansare family to make a separate application seeking to dissolve the SIT and to transfer the probe to some other investigation agency.