On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered that probe into the Hathras case, where a young Dalit woman was allegedly gangraped and murdered, be carried out under supervision of the Allahabad High Court. The high court is to look at all aspects of the investigation into case.
The Supreme Court has also directed the high court to erase all mention of the identity of the victim and her family from the previous high court order. The matter of transfer of the case has been kept open until the investigation is completed. At present the case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
It is noteworthy that on October 15, the SC had reserved orders in the case. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed a bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde, and Justice AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian that adequate witness protection measures were being put in place and CCTV cameras had been placed outside the victim’s home. Advocate Seema Kushwaha had been retained by the family of the victim to represent them in the case.
At that time, Advocate Kushwaha had urged the court to transfer the trial to Delhi after conclusion of investigations into the case. She also pleaded that the CBI Investigation Report should be submitted to the SC and not the state government. To this SG Tushar Mehta conceded that the report by CBI on completion of investigation will be submitted to jurisdictional court and also conceded that the SC should supervise.
Advocate Indira Jaisingh had at that time also appealed for intensive monitoring by a Constitutional court and the appointment of a special Public Prosecutor. Additionally, Advocate Kushwaha said that the family was not satisfied by the witness protection granted by the Uttar Pradesh government and requested that they be provided security by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
It is noteworthy that Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) had also moved an Intervention Application (IA) in the Supreme Court demanding:
- A Supreme Court monitored investigation
- Protection be provided to witnesses by Central Paramilitary Forces
- A judicial inquiry by a retired Supreme Court judge on the circumstances that led to the cremation of the victim’s body in the middle of the night in an open field, allegedly without the family’s consent.
Related:
Hathras case: SC reserves order on transfer of case outside UP