Kochi, January 27 (IANS). The Kerala High Court on Tuesday strongly reprimanded the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the gold theft cases related to Sabarimala. Expressing serious concern over the delay in filing the charge sheet, the court said that due to this, the main accused are getting statutory bail and questions are being raised on the credibility of the investigation.
Till now, a total of 13 people have been arrested in the two chargesheets filed by the SIT, while one accused has also got statutory bail. Justice A. Badruddin’s bench warned that such lapses undermine public confidence in investigating agencies and raise doubts about the seriousness of the investigation.
The court said that the release of the accused due to the charge sheet not being filed within the statutory time limit gives rise to widespread doubt. The court questioned why the SIT did not take effective steps in time to stop this situation.
“When accused are released by default, it inevitably casts a shadow on the credibility of the investigation,” the justice remarked.
The court also noted that Murari Babu, a former administrative officer of the Devaswom Board and an accused in both the Dwarapalaka and Kattilappala cases, has already been granted statutory bail.
The court also noted that Unnikrishnan Potti, the main accused in both the cases, has already got bail in the Dwarapalaka case and he will also become eligible for statutory bail in the Kattilappala case after the completion of the statutory period of 90 days on February 2.
These comments were made during the hearing of the bail plea filed by accused and Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari. Bhandari argued that even before being made an accused, he had given statement six times and had fully cooperated in the investigation, hence his arrest was unnecessary.
However, the court clarified that the arrest could not be postponed in this case. At the same time, the Court also stressed that the arrested persons should be given all legal protections, including statutory bail, as per the directions of the Supreme Court.
Responding to the court’s concerns, the SIT said that there were delays in preparing the chargesheet due to several procedural and evidentiary hurdles. The SIT said documents have been seized from the offices of the Devaswom Board and other places, while the scientific evidence required to conclusively prove the crime is still to be obtained.
The SIT also said that even if the accused are released on bail, the aim of the investigation will remain to punish the culprits and bring those responsible to justice.
A heated debate was also seen on this issue in the Kerala Assembly on Tuesday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and opposition leader V.D. There were sharp allegations and counter-allegations amid Satishan. At the same time, two opposition MLAs staged a protest in front of the Assembly and alleged that the Chief Minister was indirectly interfering in this matter.
–IANS
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