Supreme Court orders CBI probe into death of judicial officer's wife

The Supreme Court on September 6 (Friday) directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate into the death of the wife of a senior judicial officer [Mandakini Diwan and Another v. High Court of Chhattisgarh and Others]..A Division Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale passed the order on a plea by the mother and brother of the deceased woman, Ranjana Diwan, who was an Assistant District Prosecution Officer.The family had raised suspicions about the death of the deceased, who died in 2016, around two years after her marriage. Considering that her husband is a judicial officer, they had prayed for a fair investigation by CBI into the alleged suicide by the deceased. After examining the submissions, the Supreme Court allowed their plea for a CBI probe. "In the present case, the aggrieved party has raised allegations of bias and undue influence on the police machinery of the State of Chhattisgarh. Coupled with the fact that the thorough, fair and independent investigation needs to be carried out to find out the truth about the whole incident and in particular about the ante mortem injuries. We are of the view that such a direction needs to be issued in the present case," the Court said..Given that the incident occurred in 2016, the Court instructed the CBI to conclude the probe expeditiously and submit a report. The Chhattisgarh government was also asked to cooperate with the CBI in conducting the probe and to furnish the CBI with all relevant paperwork and strategic support as needed."If the CBI finds that an FIR needs to be registered, it may itself do so and proceed accordingly and bring such complaint to a logical conclusion. However, if the CBI comes to the conclusion that there is no material which it could collect which is not sufficient in ordinary course to submit a chargesheet, it would close the proceedings," the Court added..By way of background, the deceased woman, Ranjana Diwan got married to Manvendra Singh in 2014, who was appointed an Additional District Judge in 2013.In May 2016, the Diwan's family got a phone call alerting them that she had died by suicide. They believed there was something unusual about her death. They said that they were not even first handed a copy of the post-mortem report.The police prepared a closure report, classifying the case as a suicide. The deceased woman's family (appellants) then moved the Chhattisgarh High Court seeking a fair probe.In May 2023, the High Court disposed of the plea and suggested that the appellants file their complaint before the Magistrate under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. This High Court ruling was challenged before the Supreme Court..Before the Supreme Court, the mother and brother of the deceased expressed concerns that a fair inquiry would be jeopardised due to the authority and influence held by Diwan's husband since he was a serving judge. They pointed out that the post-mortem report mentioned six antemortem injuries for which no explanation was provided.The State of Chhattisgarh countered that a fair inquiry at the highest level was conducted and that the appellants were unnecessarily finding flaws.Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, suggested that the Court may appoint a high-level Special Investigation Team or alternatively, direct the CBI to investigate the matter, to provide credibility and instil confidence for the aggrieved party as well as in society.Considering the entirety of the circumstances of the case, the Court proceeded to direct the CBI to investigate the death of the deceased woman..Advocates Dinesh Jotwani, Dhawesh Pahuja, Bhargava Baisoya, Shruti Singh, Shivalika Midha, Narendra Bahadur Tiwari, Nilesh Sharma and Saket Gogia, appeared for the appellants..[Read Judgment]