HPPCL Engineer's 'Mysterious' Death | Himachal Pradesh HC Transfers Case To CBI As DGP Raises Concerns Over SIT Probe

Finding it to be an 'exceptional' situation, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Friday transferred the probe into the 'mysterious' death of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) chief engineer Vimal Negi to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel passed this order while allowing a petition filed by Negi's wife seeking the transfer of the probe. The single judge has directed the Central agency to ensure that no officer from the state cadre is part of the SIT constituted by it. In its 71-page order, the Court raised several serious concerns about the ongoing SIT investigation (under the supervision of Superintendent of Police, Shimla), including the fact that it failed to explore whether Negi took his own life because of harassment or improper conduct by his seniors at HPPCL. The Court noted that the SIT also overlooked the possibility, highlighted in a report submitted to the state government by the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), that Negi may have been under pressure from his superiors to favour a particular project proponent for reasons unrelated to duty. "Had the SIT been prudent to investigate the issue from the perspective of the petitioner and had the SIT investigated the matter from the perspective of the statements of officers/officials of HPPCL who corroborated that Shri Vimal Negi was being harassed and pressurized by his seniors for extraneous reasons, situation would not have arisen for the petitioner to knock the doors of justice", the bench remarked. For context, the Secretary's report regarding the matter stated that there was sufficient material on record to show that not only the deceased, but also other employees of HPPCL were under mental pressure and stress during the tenure of Desh Raj, Director (Electrical), and Harikesh Meena, IAS, Managing Director. However, keeping in mind his limited authority, the Secretary (Home) had refrained from drawing any conclusions that might prejudice the ongoing criminal investigation. The Court added that the mode and manner in which the investigation was being carried out by the SIT, prima facie, was not in sync with what had come in the inquiry report of the Secretary (Home).“The affidavit is conspicuously silent from the perspective of investigation from the angle of the involvement of the accused in pressurizing Vimal Negi in releasing payments etc. in favour of a Project proponent and coercing him to perform other acts to grant undue favour upon the Project proponent,” the Court remarked. The Court also took exception to the SIT failing to investigate as to what transpired between March 10 and the eventual recovery of his body, as well as its apparent attempt to portray that the deceased had a history of nervous disorder or illness. Importantly, the Court also referred to the status report filed by the Director General of Police, Himachal Pradesh, wherein grave doubts over the fairness of the investigation were raised. Essentially, in the status report, the DGP had alleged that a pen drive, allegedly found on the deceased's body, which purportedly contained crucial criminal evidence, was tampered with/destroyed after its discovery. He described this as 'serious misconduct' on the part of the SIT. In his report, the DGP also highlighted the lack of cooperation from the Shimla SP, claiming that he instructed authorities not to provide the DGP with the relevant materials required to file the status report as directed by the Court. “This Court is refraining itself from making any further observation in this regard. To say the least, if the Director General of Police of the State himself has a concern about the fairness of the fairness of the investigation, then even if this investigation is being carried out by the SIT in right earnest, it shall never instill confidence whatever may be the report of the SIT,” the bench remarked. Against this backdrop, “to give credence to the investigation so that the matter is investigated impartially”, the Court allowed the petition and directed that the investigation in the matter be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the State Police.

HPPCL Engineer's 'Mysterious' Death | Himachal Pradesh HC Transfers Case To CBI As DGP Raises Concerns Over SIT Probe

Sparsh Upadhyay

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