‘Bogus officers’: Supreme Court questions CBI competence on Vimal Negi case

A bench comprising Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra also questioned the CBI claim that the petitioner-accused did not cooperate with the investigation, when he was only denying the allegations made against him.

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court Monday questioned the competence of some of the CBI officials probing the death of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited officer Vimal Negi, terming them “absolutely bogus officers” who were not fit to be in service.

A bench comprising Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra also questioned the CBI claim that the petitioner-accused did not cooperate with the investigation, when he was only denying the allegations made against him.

The court made the oral observations while hearing a plea filed by Desh Raj, a former director with the powercorp who had moved the top court challenging the denial of anticipatory bail by the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

“Who is the investigator putting questions? This is childish. I am going to comment on this investigator. If he is a senior officer, it reflects very sadly on the CBI. A question like ‘you transferred him because of this’…is this the question you are putting to the accused? And what answers do you expect from him? Let us forget all this. If I put a question to the accused that you did this, what answer do you expect? He would deny, right? But is this non-cooperation? If he is silent, the right to remain silent is a constitutional right.”

“You say this is non-cooperation? What type of officers do you have in CBI? Absolutely bogus officers. Not fit to be in service. Nothing comes from this, useless type of document. All surmises, nothing concrete that says look here — this is the evidence,” Justice Amanullah observed orally.

The case pertains to allegations that Desh Raj, Director (Electrical), HPPCL, along with other senior officials mentally tortured Negi, then posted as chief engineer with powercorp, forced him to work late nights, and even denied him leave when he was ill forcing him to die by suicide.

Negi went missing after leaving the HPPCL office in Shimla on March 10 and his body was found on March 18 in Bilaspur.

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His family placed the body outside the HPPCL office, demanding suspension of top officials of the powercorp, including Desh Raj, HPPCL Managing Director Harikesh Meena, and Director (Finance) Shivam Pratap Singh.

An FIR for abetment to suicide was later registered on the complaint of Negi’s wife Kiran.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Desh Raj submitted that following the top court’s directive, his client appeared before a CBI team which interrogated him for three hours but did not ask him anything on the abetment to suicide case.

For CBI, Additional Solicitor General SD Sanjay submitted a report in a sealed cover.

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The court perused the contents of the sealed cover and returned it to ASG Sanjay. “We have gone through it…We do not wish to comment on the same as the investigation is still proceeding. However, we find that the petitioner, now having cooperated with the investigation…the interim order requires it to be made absolute. Accordingly, in the event of arrest or surrender before the Court below within three weeks from today, the petitioner shall be released on bail subject to the terms and conditions which may be imposed by the court concerned,” the top court ordered.

Disposing of the Special Leave Petition, the top court further directed that the petitioner shall cooperate in the investigation and “any violation would be a ground for cancellation of his bail”.

Advocate General Anup Rattan, representing the State, virtually attended the court hearing.