The Supreme Court recently ruled that courts cannot transfer an investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while denying a bail application [Abhishek and Another v. State of Rajasthan and Others].
A Bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih set aside a Rajasthan High Court order that had transferred the investigation into the murder of a 22-year-old man to the CBI while rejecting the accused’s bail plea. The Supreme Court noted in its October 21 order that the High Court “ought not to have transferred the investigation to the CBI while rejecting the prayer for bail.” The Court further emphasized that such a direction for a de-novo investigation could not have been issued alongside the rejection of bail.
The High Court had ordered the CBI probe due to concerns that the investigation by the State Police and CID appeared biased, unfair, and incomplete. The case involved the murder of a 22-year-old man from an oppressed community, allegedly targeted by the bajri (sand) mafia to “set an example.”
After the High Court rejected the bail applications and ordered the CBI probe, the accused moved to the Supreme Court seeking relief. During the hearing, the Supreme Court was informed that the State police had already filed a chargesheet, and 14 out of 67 witnesses had been examined. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the accused, argued that they had been in jail for over a year and that the High Court’s order for a CBI probe came while the State police investigation was still underway.
The Supreme Court, while considering the appeal, also took into account the fact that the accused had no criminal antecedents. After reviewing the evidence, including post-mortem notes and medical testimony, the Court concluded that the case for bail was justified. “We are satisfied that a case is made for enlarging the appellants on bail, especially since the State has not presented any criminal antecedents of the appellants,” the Court held, setting aside the High Court’s order and granting bail to the accused.
In addition to Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, Advocates Anand Varma, Sandeep Singh Shekhawat, and Ayush Gupta appeared for the appellants. Representing the State of Rajasthan were Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal Sharma and Advocates Amogh Bansal and Nidhi Jaswal. Advocates Ajit Kumar Thakur, Ram Nath, Kiran Singh, and Sushil Balwada represented the complainant. The CBI was represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati and Advocates Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Chitrangda Rastaravara, Shreya Jain, Jagdish Chandra Solanki, and Vidya Vijaysingh Pawar.
