HC ‘doesn’t mind’ joint probe by cops,CBI

“We don’t mind a joint investigation,” the court said while hearing petitions seeking the transfer of investigations in the case. “It is a wider issue. Many people are now involved,” Justice Ranjana Desai said.

The court was hearing PILs filed by lawyer V P Patil and former journalist Ketan Tirodkar and intervention applications filed by the Mumbai Press Club and journalist S Balakrishnan.

Arguing on behalf of the Mumbai Press Club,senior counsel Navroz Seervai told the court that the Mumbai Police had put Dey’s family in an embarrassing position by “planting” stories about him in the press. He also said they had not conclusively stated which direction the probe was headed in. “One day they say Iqbal Mirchi,then Chhota Shakeel,then Chhota Rajan,then somebody else. Is this a joke,a circus?” Seervai asked.

“The real culprits are not those who shot Dey. They are the tools for others. They (Mumbai Police) have only got the small fries. They cannot get to the root of the case because they may be involved themselves. Have they taken any step to bring Chhota Rajan to India? he asked.

Seervai added that the time taken by the investigating agency to crack the case is not the question,it is their ability to carry out the probe impartially. Terming the killing of Dey as “a frontal attack on democratic polity”,Seervai said an independent agency like the CBI must take over the probe.

Advocate General Ravindra Kadam submitted a confidential investigation report to the court. “We don’t know if public outcry should be guiding us,” Justice Desai said.

The court,however,expressed displeasure over police officers divulging details of investigations to the press before their conclusion. “This has been a disturbing trend,” Justice Desai said. Kadam said the alleged statements made against Dey are “in bad taste”,but the media reports will have to be verified. The court will hear the state government’s arguments on Thursday.