HC orders CBI probe,sets 3-month deadline

Arya was shot dead by motorcycle riders while he was taking a morning walk near his Vikas Nagar residence on October 27 last year. His successor Singh was killed in an identical manner near his Gomti Nagar residence on April 2. Investigation showed that at least one of the weapons used in both crimes was common.

Since the state government had referred all four cases to the CBI for “further investigation” on July 20,the bench directed that the CBI will hold the investigation afresh,and that the chargesheets submitted by the police in all four cases shall not be made the basis for proceeding further.

After Singh’s murder,the police had arrested former deputy CMO Dr Y S Sachan in the cases of financial irregularities. Later,the police also named him as the main conspirator in both murders. On June 22,Sachan was found dead in suspicious circumstances in a toilet in the Lucknow jail.

The government said he had committed suicide while his family alleged that he had been murdered to prevent him from making certain disclosures in court. After a judicial inquiry held that Sachan had been murdered,the court ordered a CBI investigation on July 14.

While arguing for a CBI investigation into the murder of the two former CMOs as well as the financial irregularities,the NGO had alleged that these cases,as also the murder of Sachan,were interconnected. Therefore,it was appropriate that the same agency should investigate them,it said.

In its order,the court observed that it could not be ruled out that the death of Sachan was part of a series of murders planned and carried out to put a curtain on the financial irregularities committed in implementing the NRHM programme.

On July 20,the court had directed the state government to produce the records of all four cases,including the case diaries and the chargesheets. Later in the day,the government,which had opposed the demand for a CBI investigation on the grounds that the police had completed the investigation and filed the chargesheets,suddenly decided to refer all four cases to the CBI.