CID likely to appeal Bombay HC order transferring Badlapur custodial death case

A CID official said they would approach the SC seeking to stay the decision of the Bombay High Court. The official said they would mention that the investigation was at an advanced stage and they be allowed to continue with the probe.

Additional Director General (ADG) CID Prashant Burde did not respond to queries from The Indian Express.

Observing that “refusal to investigate will allow perpetrators to go unpunished”, the Bombay High Court on Monday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Mumbai police to probe the custodial death of an accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case.

A 23-year-old janitor, arrested in August 2024 for the alleged sexual assault of two minor girls at a school in Badlapur in Thane district, was shot dead while he was being transported in a police vehicle on September 23.

The HC observed that the SIT would be supervised by Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Lakhmi Gautam and headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mumbai.

The court directed the state CID to hand over all papers to the SIT within two days and the SIT shall take appropriate steps in the matter. It also asked the SIT to “make every endeavour to unearth the facts and take the case to the logical end” by conducting a probe fairly and impartially from all angles uninfluenced by anyone.

The High Court said, “The case requires thorough investigation as it is undisputed that the deceased succumbed to bullets fired by a police officer when he was in police custody.”

“The refusal to investigate a crime undermines the rule of law and erodes public faith in justice and allows perpetrators to go unpunished,” a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela K Gokhale had said.