PIL to transfer Shraddha murder case probe to CBI: Such petitions will affect Delhi Police morale, Delhi High Court says

The Delhi High Court has described the plea seeking transfer of the investigation in the Shraddha Walkar murder case from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as an attempt by the lawyer to “bask in the sunlight of media attention”. [Joshini Tuli v. State (NCT of Delhi) & Ors]..While dismissing the Public Interest Litigation filed by Advocate Joshini Tuli, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad imposed costs of ₹10,000 on the lawyer.“Such type of petitions only affect the morale of the Police and must not be encouraged. Baseless allegations are bound to taint the faith the general public has in the criminal justice system. Delhi Police is a professional unit and to boost their morale, petitions of this nature must be severely deprecated,” the Court said..The Bench noted that apart from making vague allegations that the investigation is not being conducted in a proper manner, there is nothing in the petition to demonstrate deficiencies in the nature and quality of investigation.“Solely by stating that the investigation is faulty and that only 44% of the cases of murder result in conviction does not mean that every case must be transferred to the CBI,” the Court said..The judges concluded that the petition has been filed only to gain publicity without any material to support the averments.“In view of the fact that this petition is only an attempt to gain publicity and is a frivolous petition, this Court is inclined to dismiss the same by imposing costs of ₹10,000/- on the Petitioner to be paid to the ‘Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund’ within a period of four weeks from the date of this Order,” the Bench ordered..Tuli had filed the PIL in the Delhi High Court claiming that the Delhi Police has revealed minute and sensitive details of the investigation to the public through the media.It was argued that the presence of media and other public persons at the site of recoveries, in court hearings and so on amounts to interference with the evidence and witnesses in the present case.The plea highlights that the murder has been alleged to have taken place in Delhi, after which body parts of the victim were disposed of at different places. Therefore, the Mehrauli Police Station was not equipped to carry out the investigation due to lack of staff and paucity of technical equipment.It was further stated that as per statements made by the Delhi Police to the media, the accused will be taken to five different states in furtherance of the investigation. Hence, the case was "inter-state" and beyond the territorial jurisdiction of Delhi Police, the lawyer claimed..[Shraddha murder case] PIL in Delhi High Court seeks transfer of investigation against Aftab Amin Poonawalla to CBI.The murder case involves a couple who had allegedly met on dating app Bumble and subsequently entered into a live-in relationship. They were initially based out of Mumbai before shifting to Delhi early this year.According to the police, on May 18 this year, after a quarrel between the couple in a rented flat in Mehrauli, the accused strangulated the victim, chopped her body into 35 pieces, stored it in a fridge and later dumped the parts in different areas of the city over the next 18 days..Advocates Joginder Tuli, Shrikant Sharma, Vishal Gupta and Cyril Ignatious appeared for the petitioner.Standing Counsel Sanjay Lao and Santosh Kumar Tripathi along with Advocates Arun Panwar and Mehak Rankawa appeared for the GNCTD.Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, CGSC Kirtiman Singh and Advocates Amit Gupta, Kunjala Bhardwaj, Saurabh Tripathi, Rishav Dubey and Madhav Bajaj appeared for the Central government.CBI was represented through its Special Public Prosecutor Anubha Bhardwaj along with Advocates Sarthak Anand, Madhu Bhardwaj and Ankita Gautam. .[Read Order]