Dabholkar Murder Case: SC Gives 3 Weeks more Time to CBI

The CBI on Monday filed a closure report on Monday, telling Bombay High Court that their investigation into the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was over.

A bench of Justices Ajay S Gadkari and Prakash D Naik gave three weeks’ time to the Central Bureau of Investigation to inform whether the investigation into Dabholkar’s murder had been completed.
The Bombay High court was hearing a petition filed by Mukta Dabholkar, daughter of Narendra Dabholkar, seeking continuation of the Bombay High Court’s monitoring of the case.
Narendra Dabholkar, 67, was shot dead on August , 2013 in Pune. The Pune Police was initially probed the murder but the case was handed over to the CBI in 2014 following a court order.
During the hearing the CBI told the bench that it had completed the investigation into the murder of Dabholkar and the investigating officer had submitted the closure report to the competent authority.
On behalf of Mukta Dabholkar, her lawyer told the bench that the CBI had not investigated the case properly and there were still many lapses.
Earlier The CBI had filed a chargesheet against five accused persons in the case. The court had asked the central agency to apprise it of the status of its investigation in the case.
Appearing for the CBI,Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, told the court that as far as the CBI is concerned, the investigation has been conducted and is now complete. Out of 32 witnesses, 15 have been cross-examined, he informed the court.
The bench then asked the CBI whether further surveillance was required. To this, advocate Anil Singh, submitted that no further investigation was needed as the investigating officer had filed a report and it was pending before the competent authority.
Then the court asked the CBI to decide how much time would it take to decide?Singh sought three weeks’ time for the CBI to take a final decision on the matter.