‘Appalled’ by SIT progress, HC hands over probe into HPPCL chief engineer’s death to CBI

Negi, 55, went missing on March 10. His body was found in Bilaspur on March 18, sparking protests by his family and HPPCL employees who alleged workplace harassment and held senior officers responsible for driving him to suicide.

On March 19, the police lodged an FIR invoking charges of abetment to suicide and common intention under sections 108 and 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Negi’s wife, Kiran, subsequently moved the high court seeking a transfer of the police investigation to the CBI.

Vimal Negi, 55, went missing on March 10. His body was found in Bilaspur on March 18. (Express file photo)

In its 77-page judgment, the court expressed strong displeasure with the SIT’s approach. “This court is appalled by the mode and manner in which the investigation is proceeding, as per the affidavit submitted by the SP, Shimla. The SIT appears to be narrowly focusing on whether Vimal Negi ended his life due to inappropriate behaviour by Director (Electrical) Desh Raj and IAS officer Harikesh Meena, then Managing Director. The affidavit is conspicuously silent on whether Negi was under pressure from his superiors to unduly favour a project proponent,” the court observed.

The bench also took on record that ACS Sharma’s inquiry had highlighted serious discrepancies linked to the Phekhubella Solar Power Project in Una district. Yet, the SIT’s affidavit had failed to explore this angle. “The affidavit is silent on the alleged coercion to release payments or extend favours to the project,” the order stated.

Further, the court criticised the SIT for failing to unravel details that the ACS had flagged within 15 days of his inquiry. “The SIT was constituted on March 19, but has not gone beyond identifying that the deceased faced ‘improper behaviour’. No substantial probe has been undertaken,” the court noted.

“Interestingly, the SIT, supervised by the SP Shimla and represented through the Advocate General, questioned the DGP’s authority to raise doubts over the investigation. Meanwhile, the inquiry report by ACS (Home) Onkar Sharma, though referenced, has not been made public. This report allegedly casts serious aspersions on the conduct of Vimal Negi’s superiors and indicates impropriety in their dealings with the project proponent,” the court said.

“In the backdrop of this report of ACS, if one peruses the status report of SP Shimla, a perusal thereof, inter alia, demonstrates that perhaps investigation has been carried out by the SIT from the perspective of alleged pressure mounted upon the deceased by the accused with an ulterior motive. What the Inquiry Officer could pen down in his inquiry report within 15 days, till date, has not been unravelled by the SIT, which was constituted as far back as on March 19. In fact, all that is mentioned in the affidavit is that it was detected during the course of investigation that Desh Raj, the then Director of HPPCL and Harikesh Meena, the then Managing Director were “causing improper behaviour” to the deceased,” the order stated.

“The affidavit of the SP, Shimla, clearly shows that no concrete investigation has been made over the last two months—despite the family’s consistent claims that the death occurred under suspicious circumstances,” the court noted.

The court ruled, “In the light of the discussion, this court is of the considered view that in this case, there is an exceptional situation, which requires that the matter be investigated by the CBI. Herein, the DGP himself has raised grave concerns about the mode and manner in which the investigation is being carried out in his status report.”