The Bombay High Court on Monday granted the Central Bureau of Investigation four more weeks to decide on the probe conclusion report into the 2013 killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
On January 30, the CBI had informed HC its probe in the case was complete and that the investigating officer has sent a closure report to the probe agency’s head office for approval.
On Monday, advocate Sandesh Patil, appearing for the CBI, informed a division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and P D Naik that some more time was required to get a clearer picture on the approval for the conclusion report.
The bench accepted the statement and granted the agency four weeks time to decide on the probe conclusion report.
Dabholkar (67), founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead by two persons, allegedly linked to the radical outfit Sanatan Sanstha, while he was on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.
The HC was hearing a petition filed by Narendra Dabholkar’s daughter Mukta Dabholkar, seeking that the court continue monitoring the progress of the probe.
In 2014, the HC transferred the probe into the case to the CBI following a petition filed by social activist Ketan Tirodkar and later by Mukta Dabholkar. Since then, the HC has been monitoring the progress made in the case.
The CBI, which took over the case from Pune police in 2014, has so far chargesheeted five persons in the case.
