Shraddha murder case: Delhi HC dismisses plea seeking CBI probe

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition seeking the transfer of investigation from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). While dismissing the petition, the Court said, "We don't find a single good reason to entertain this plea."

The plea, which has been moved by a practicing lawyer of Delhi, stated that investigation by Delhi Police, in this case, cannot be efficiently carried out due to administrative/staff paucity as well as lack of sufficient technical and scientific equipment to find out the evidence and the witness as the incident had taken place about six months back.

It further stated that the minute and sensitive details of the investigation by the Delhi Police have been revealed to the public through the media.

The presence of media and other public persons at the place of recoveries, court hearings etc. of any accused amounts to their interference with the evidence and witnesses in the present case.

It also stated that the Delhi Police have not sealed the alleged place of the incident to date which is continuously being accessed by the public and media personnel.

The plea stated that in the present case, pertaining to a heinous and sensitive offence u/s 302/201 IPC and in the same sensitive information pertaining to the Investigation regarding recoveries, evidences etc. are being leaked continuously by the Police Station Mehrauli on a daily basis jeopardizing every material evidence and witness so far gathered, it added mentioning that the alleged crime scenes and scene of recoveries are being contaminated by public persons and media personnel on a daily basis due to the unfiltered disclosure of information by the Delhi Police.

“The forensic evidence in the present case has not been preserved properly by the Delhi Police since all the alleged recoveries are being touched and accessed by different public persons and media personnel within the Mehrauli Police Station, alleged scene of crime i.e. house of the deceased, place of recoveries i.e. Mehrauli, Chhattarpur forest etc. which are clearly evident in the various news coverage of the present case,” the plea read.

Due to faulty investigation, most of the heinous crimes result in the acquittal of the accused since as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, 2021 only 44 per cent of murder cases result in a conviction, stated the plea.

Meanwhile, Aaftab on Tuesday told a Delhi court that murdered his girlfriend in the “heat of the moment”.

The Saket court today extended the police custody of Aftab Poonawala to four more days after he was produced before the court via video conferencing in a special hearing.

Aaftab was produced before the Saket court here after his five-day police custody expired.

“What happened that happened in heat of the moment,” Aaftab told the court.

Aaftab also said that he is cooperating in the investigation. He further told the court that he is having difficulty in recalling the incident.

Aftab is accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walker and chopping her body into 35 pieces.

Delhi Police solved the six-month-old blind murder case and arrested Aftab Amin Poonawalla on the basis of Shraddha’s father’s complaint.