Gangrape: HC wants to know if UP govt objects to CBI probe

ALLAHABAD: A bench of Allahabad high court, taking suo motu cognizance of the Bulandshahr gang rape case, on Monday asked the state to apprise if it had any objection to transfer of probe to the CBI.

ALLAHABAD/LUCKNOW: The Allahabad high court on Monday asked the Uttar Pardesh government to apprise the court if it objected to the Bulandshahr gang rape case being handed over to the CBI.

The Lucknow bench of the high court asked the government to reply within a week to a PIL that sought a CBI probe into the gruesome gang rape. The case is currently being handled by the state police. UP’s additional advocate general Bulbul Godiyal said even though the government had no hesitation in handing over the probe if the court asked it to, a mere lack of confidence in the state police’s ability to solve the case would not be sufficient to give the charge to CBI.

An NGO, ‘We the People’, had filed a PIL on August 2, alleging lapses in state police’s investigation. The petitioner filed a supplementary affidavit on Monday giving details of the alleged oversights. The court, while taking suo motu cognizance of the case, also wanted to know if the government had taken any steps to ensure public safety on highways.

“When public pays toll on highway, it is not just for using that road. It is duty of the state government to ensure that there is proper police force at regular intervals on highways so that they are safe for public,” the court said.

A woman and her minor daughter were brutally gang raped by local goons on NH-91 when they were travelling with their family from Noida to Shahjahanpur on July 29 night.

Godiyal said in court that the investigation was on and three suspects had been nabbed. All efforts were being made to nab the other suspects, she added.