The Supreme Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to respond to a plea regarding the alleged murders of three members of a Dalit family in Madhya Pradesh. This Wednesday, Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar issued notices to both the state and the CBI, requesting detailed replies concerning the serious allegations brought forth by the surviving family member.
The petition, driven by the grief and determination of a woman who lost her son, daughter, and brother-in-law, alleges severe misconduct involving a former state home minister, now an MLA, accused of influencing the investigation and threatening witnesses. The petitioner claims that the police, under political pressure, failed to act against the perpetrators who are purportedly linked to the former minister.
The legal counsel for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves and Advocate Meenesh Dubey, presented a distressing narrative to the apex court. According to their client, the investigation into the initial FIR filed in January 2019 in Sagar district has been marred by police bias. This initial complaint, made by the now-deceased daughter, involved accusations of molestation and physical assault which, troublingly, did not result in appropriate legal action against the accused.
Further allegations suggest a horrifying pattern of violence and intimidation: the complainant’s brother was murdered in August 2023, and an uncle, a key witness to the crime, was killed in May of the following year. The sequence of events culminated tragically when the complainant herself was allegedly murdered by police while transporting her uncle’s remains.
The petitioner’s plea underscores the urgency and necessity of an external investigation, proposing that the CBI form a team specifically composed of officers from outside Madhya Pradesh to ensure an impartial examination and prosecution process. The plea also requests that the case be transferred from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi to safeguard the integrity of the proceedings and to protect the remaining family members.
