IMPORTANT POINT
The High Court's power to order a CBI inquiry requires sufficient material to establish a prima facie case; mere allegations are insufficient.

JUDGMENT :

(Raja Vijayaraghavan V, J.)

This appeal is directed against the judgment dated 06.06.2022 in W.P.(C) No. 443 of 2021, whereby, the learned Single Judge dismissed the writ petition filed by the petitioner seeking transfer of investigation of Crime No. 52/11CBKK to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

2. The appellant is the father of the late Nisha, who allegedly committed suicide on 22.02.2011. She was found hanging from the window of a bedroom on the first floor of her matrimonial home. On the same day, one Velayudhan, the uncle of the deceased, lodged a First Information Statement, leading to the registration of Crime No.113/2011 at Feroke Police Station, inter alia under Section 174 of the Cr.P.C. An inquest was conducted, following which the body of the deceased was cremated.

3. According to the petitioner, on perusing the postmortem certificate, he found that the actual cause of death was hanging. He contends that the family members of his son-in-law had initially informed him as well as the first informant different reasons for the death of his daughter. He was initially told that his daughter had fallen down in the bathroom and it was also stated that she died of a heart attack. Consequently, he lodged a complaint alleging foul play in the death of his daughter. In the said complaint, he also expressed strong dissatisfaction with the manner in which the police investigation had been conducted and highlighted the various reasons which persuaded him to entertain the suspicion. His representation was considered favourably, and the investigation was handed over to the CBCID, HHW-III, Wayanad Sub Unit, which was subsequently taken over by the Deputy Superintendent of Police. The investigating agency after investigation concluded that the death of the petitioner’s daughter was a case of suicide by hanging. A final report to this effect was submitted before the jurisdictional court on 10.12.2014.

4. Being aggrieved, the appellant approached this Court by filing W.P.(C) No. 24551 of 2016, wherein he contended that the police had not conducted a proper investigation into the death of his daughter. His primary prayer was for the investigation to be entrusted to a more competent agency, namely, the Central Bureau of Investigation.

5. The learned Single Judge of this Court, after carefully evaluating the contentions, observed that the incorrect information allegedly provided by the son-in-law’s family members created an element of suspicion. The Court opined that critical aspects—such as what exactly transpired immediately before Nisha's death and the circumstances leading to her suicide—had not been adequately addressed by the investigating agency. Taking note of these aspects, the writ petition was allowed, and directions were issued to the respondent authorities to constitute a team of officers with proven investigative skills, led by an officer, not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police from the Crime Branch, to reinvestigate the matter.

6. In compliance with the directions, a Special Investigation team was formed, which took over the case, conducted a fresh investigation, and reaffirmed the earlier conclusion that the death of the appellant’s daughter was a case of suicide. However, the appellant remained firm in his belief that his daughter's death was not a suicide but a clear case of murder. Accordingly, he once again approached this Court by filing W.P.(C) No. 443 of 2021, seeking the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to take over the investigation of Crime No.52/11/CBKK.

7. The learned Single Judge, after thoroughly assessing the entire factual matrix and available records, found that three different investigating agencies had conducted independent, detailed inquiries and had unanimously ruled out the possibility of homicide. The Court carefully examined the postmortem report, the statements of all witnesses, and the investigative findings before concluding that th