Shraddha Murder: Delhi High Court rejects PIL seeking transfer of investigation to CBI, imposes costs

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking transfer of the investigation in Shraddha Walkar murder case from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). [Joshini Tuli v. State of NCT].A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that the police are doing its investigation and the Court will not monitor it.The Court also proceeded to impose costs while dismissing the plea.The Delhi Police told the court that investigation in the case is being carried by a team headed by senior police officials and that 80% investigation is already complete. The Central government also opposed the PIL, stating a private party by way of PIL cannot dictate the manner in which investigation should be conducted..The PIL filed by a practicing advocate, Joshini Tuli, claimed that the Delhi Police revealed minute and sensitive details of the investigation to the public through the media."That so far the Delhi Police/P.S. Mehrauli have revealed each and every detail to the media and public person regarding every step of their investigation which is not permitted as per law," the plea said.Further, 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 petitioner also clarified that the relief sought is only likely to affect the accused, complainant and the citizens of Delhi at large, not any other persons, bodies or institutions.The plea highlighted that the murder was 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 is not equipped to carry out the investigation due to lack of staff and paucity of technical equipment, it was contended..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.The macabre murder case involves a couple who had allegedly met on mobile 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.