Bombay HC dismisses plea by father of Kerala engineer who went missing from ONGC rig, says police probe not biased

The plea by the engineer’s father had sought registration of FIR and transfer of probe to an independent special agency to trace his son. Dismissing the plea, the HC said the “investigation conducted by state police did not appear to be tainted or biased”.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela K Gokhale passed a verdict on plea by Geevarghese B, father of then 26-year-old Enos Varghese, from Adoor in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district.

The petitioner had sought that relevant documents related to the probe conducted on a missing complaint be produced before the court.

In July, 2023, the police informed the HC that they have recorded statements of nearly 28 witnesses but had not found any evidence against his colleague, who according to the father had indulged in a foul play in the case.

However, the petitioner, through advocate C K Thomas, argued that FIR was not registered in the incident and despite Enos completing his work on February 21, ONGC failed to provide any transportation to him to return and instead kept him waiting till the next day.

Thomas claimed that on February 24, 2023, the respondent contractor took Enos to an abandoned platform despite there being no work scheduled and questioned the non availability of CCTV cameras in such a high secured area.

The court said the facts in the case were “unfortunate” as the petitioner submitted that his elder son Enos was working with the System Protection since June, 2022.

The Gujarat-based firm was working on a maintenance contract of ONGC at their offshore installation on the high seas off the Mumbai coast.

As per the father, Enos called him on February 24 morning and told him that his work at the rig was over and he was going to the shore.

However, on the same date, at 11:55 pm, the petitioner received a call informing that Enos was missing from the workplace, after which he rushed to the city.

The engineer’s father claimed that Enos faced serious threats and danger from the contractor and alleged that his son may have been killed and thrown into the sea. The police report of September, 2023 found that efforts were made to save Enos by throwing a lifebuoy towards him, however, he refused to catch the same and floated away, and therefore he could not be traced.

The bench perused material on record and observed that “herculean efforts were made to trace Enos” by ONGC and police who also took assistance of Navy and Coast Guard, however he could be traced.

Dismissing the plea, the HC observed, “We do not find any lapses in the investigation conducted either by the local police or by ONGC.

Undoubtedly, losing a son is an extremely traumatic experience for any parent. No amount of empathy can mitigate the pain and suffering of the petitioner or offer solace and we acknowledge the grief of the petitioner and other loved ones of Enos. However, the court’s powers are limited to the principles of the criminal justice delivery system.”