Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Filed By Kerala ADM Naveen Babu's Wife Seeking CBI Probe Into His Death

The Supreme Court today dismissed the plea filed by the wife of Naveen Babu, who was an Additional District Magistrate in Kerala, seeking a CBI probe into his death.

A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran refused to interfere with the Kerala High Court order, which refused to order a CBI investigation.

Before the bench, Senior Advocate Sunil Fernandes (on behalf of the petitioner-wife), argued that Naveen Babu had an impeccable service record of 30 years and was at the fag end of his career (7 months left of tenure as ADM). As he was about to be transferred from Kannur to his home district, a farewell function was organized, in which PP Divya, a leader of the ruling CPI(M) government in Kerala, came and made certain scurrilous remarks against him. The event was followed by circulation of a video with unsubstantiated allegations, which caused Naveen Babu extreme distress. Even so, he told his driver to pick him up on the next morning on time as he had a train to catch for his home district. Next day, he was found dead in his official residence.

Casting suspicions on the circumstances of the death, the senior counsel prayed that the Court direct a CBI enquiry. The bench, however, found no ground to transfer the investigation to CBI and disposed of the case.

In the context of the allegation that Naveen Babu was disturbed prior to his death by Divya's remarks in the public event, Justice Dhulia commented, "doesn't mean one commits suicide for that, right? This is very...You can't...abetment of suicide in every case".

To recap, Naveen Babu was found hanging in his official quarters on October 15, 2024. PP Divya, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which currently forms government in Kerala, was accused of abetting Babu's suicide by levelling public allegations of corruption at his farewell.

Babu's wife alleged a homicidal angle to the incident and claimed that due to Divya's political influence, investigation must be carried out by an impartial and independent agency like the CBI or Crime Branch.

Initially, she moved a writ petition before the High Court seeking CBI probe, which was dismissed on February 6. The single judge observed that CBI investigation cannot be ordered merely because the accused had ties with the ruling political dispensation. It also stated that the petitioner could not point to any material flaw in the ongoing investigation, warranting a CBI probe.

Thereafter, the petitioner moved a writ appeal before the High Court, stating that the CBI probe was refused without considering flaws and discrepancies in the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). It was further argued that the investigation lacked credibility, and the accused could influence witnesses/destroy evidence due to ties with the ruling political party. The petitioner also contended that the Single Bench ought to have considered it to be a rare and exceptional case for ordering CBI probe.

The High Court reheard the writ appeal, after reserving orders, as Naveen Babu's family expressed dissatisfaction with their counsel's request for a Crime Branch investigation instead of a CBI investigation. 

Eventually, aggrieved by the March 3 judgment of the Division Bench (denying CBI probe), where it was noted that investigations cannot be transferred to CBI based on personal feelings of the victim and there must be reasonable apprehension based on concrete facts, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.

The petition was filed through AoR Ramesh Babu MR.

Case Title: MANJUSHA K Versus CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION AND ORS., SLP(Crl) No. 5548/2025