A Single Judge Bench of Justice Jitendra Kumar passed the direction while hearing a writ petition filed by the daughter of the deceased couple. The Court, however, declined to stall the ongoing trial against the sole charge-sheeted accused, noting that the proceedings had almost concluded.

The petition arose out of Ara Nawada P.S. Case No. 62 of 2023, registered under Sections 302 and 394 IPC. Initially, the petitioner had sought transfer of the investigation to the CBI along with a direction for further investigation. During the hearing, however, she confined her prayer to further investigation by the police.

The petitioner submitted that her parents, Mahendra Prasad Singh and Dr. Pushpa Singh, both retired professors aged around 70 years, were murdered inside their residence. Referring to the postmortem reports, she argued that Mahendra Prasad Singh had sustained 24 incised wounds while Dr. Pushpa Singh had suffered two incised wounds on her neck.

According to the petitioner, the manner in which the murders were committed made it highly improbable that a single individual could have carried them out. She contended that despite these circumstances, the police had filed a charge-sheet only against one accused, Tapan Dey alias Deepak Kumar, and closed the investigation without examining the possible involvement of other persons.

The State did not oppose the prayer for further investigation. Counsel appearing for the informant also supported the request, while submitting that the trial against the existing accused should continue since it had reached its final stage.

After considering the submissions, the High Court found merit in the request for further investigation. The Court noted that one victim had sustained 24 incised wounds while the other had suffered fatal sharp-cut injuries to the neck. It observed that the nature of the assault pointed to a “strong possibility” that more than one person had participated in the crime.

In these circumstances, the Court held that closing the investigation after filing a charge-sheet against only one accused did not appear to be justified.

Accordingly, the Bench directed the police to undertake further investigation under Section 193(9) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

At the same time, the Court clarified that the ongoing trial against Tapan Dey alias Deepak Kumar would continue uninterrupted. It noted that 12 out of 14 prosecution witnesses had already been examined and directed the petitioner, who is also a prosecution witness, to appear before the trial court as and when required.

Case Title: Rakshita Singh v. State of Bihar and Ors.

Case Number: Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 2549 of 2024

Appearance: Mr. Bindhyachal Singh, Senior Advocate, with Mr. Aakash Singh, Mr. Vipin Kumar Singh and Ms. Diksha Singh for the Petitioner; Mr. Braj Bhushan Mishra, AC to AAG-9 for the State; Mr. Sumeet Singh, Mr. Shivam Singh and Mr. Kush for the Intervenor; Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Standing Counsel, CBI.