The Maharashtra government on Friday (18 September) decided to hand over the Sheena Bora murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in order to ensure a fair and impartial probe. The announcement was made by state Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K.P. Bakshi. However, he said it was upto the central government to take a final call on whether to assign the case to the CBI or not, depending on its workload.
It may be pointed out that under the provisions of Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, which governs the functioning of CBI, consent of the state government is necessary for CBI to investigate an offence that occurred within the area of a state. At the same time, the Central Government is also required to issue an order authorizing the CBI to take over the investigation of the offence, after the state government has given its consent.
“For the last few days, since the former Mumbai police commissioner (Rakesh Maria) was replaced by Ahmad Javed, the media have sought to convey the impression that efforts were on to deliberately try and dilly-dally and interfere with the (murder) inquiry,” Bakshi told media persons.
However, when the transfers-cum-promotions took place, Bakshi said he had taken great pains to clarify that there was no connection between the administrative decisions and the particular case.
“I am compelled to say that because of this impression being created by certain sections of the media and based on the report of the DGP (director general of police), we have decided to hand over the case to the CBI,” Bakshi said.
The DGP gave a complete status report on the Sheena murder case and he also commented on what should be done in future, he added.
After lengthy discussions with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other top police and civil officials, the government decided that not a single state officer should be involved or connected with the investigation.
“We want to give a clear message to the people, and the government has no intention to interfere in the case and we want a complete and impartial investigation. We have been in touch with the centre and the CBI and completed all relevant formalities in the matter,” Bakshi explained.
