‘FIR after 2 years’: Supreme Court orders CBI probe into Chhattisgarh custodial death

The police had taken the man into custody on January 18, 2024, on the charge of possessing liquor for sale outside his grocery shop. He died three days later on January 21 in hospital.

“In the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the firm opinion that the ends of justice require that investigation into the circumstances leading to the custodial death be entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation and that all officials found responsible for the custodial violence upon completion of the investigation be proceeded against and prosecuted in accordance with law,” the bench ordered.

‘Examine police failure in taking right steps‘

Asking the central agency to entrust the probe to a senior officer, it further directed that “the conduct of the concerned state officials, in failing to take appropriate steps pursuant to the submission of the judicial inquiry report, shall also be duly examined and made a part of the investigation”.

“The findings recorded by the High Court that the deceased was the sole breadwinner of the family and that he died an unnatural death on account of violence suffered during the period of his custody with the State have not been disputed by the Chhattisgarh government,” the court said.

The Judicial Magistrate First Class, in a report, had attributed the death to complications resulting from the head injury caused by a blunt weapon, following which his wife and daughters moved the High Court for a probe. The High Court disposed of the plea, granting compensation of Rs 1 lakh but did not direct any probe, after which the family approached the Supreme Court.