HC dismisses plea seeking CBI probe into death of former chief justice’s grandson

Jaspal Singh Sandhu, a lawyer, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the bathroom of his Sector-9 house in Chandigarh in February 2017

The Punjab and Haryana high court has dismissed a plea seeking a CBI probe into the death of Jaspal Singh Sandhu, the grandson of a former chief justice.

HC observed that there is nothing to suggest in the entire petition as to how there was any foul play in the investigation. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The high court bench of justice Jasjit Singh Bedi observed that mere suspicion without anything more was not good enough to order an investigation by CBI, more so, when the death itself did not appear to be homicidal.

Sandhu was the grandson of late justice Mehar Singh, who was the seventh chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court and remained in office from May 1966 to August 1970.

Was found dead in Sec-9 house in 2017

An only child, Sandhu was unmarried and lived in Sector 9, while his father, Rajinder Singh, lived at the family’s ancestral village.

An advocate by profession, Sandhu was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the bathroom of his house on February 17, 2017.

Unsatisfied with the probe by the Chandigarh Police, Sandhu’s father had approached the high court later in 2017, claiming that his son was the only legal heir of the family’s vast property. Therefore, there could have been a number of people who wanted him dead. He also suspected connivance of police with “certain rich and highly connected political persons” who could be behind his son’s death.

The police told the court that upon a call from a relative, the door of Sandhu’s house was broken open and he was found lying in the bathroom. After forensic examination and autopsy, police had concluded “chronic ischaemic heart disease” as the cause of death. CFSL examination of visceral organs had found no common poisons.

No foul play suggested in petition: HC

The court observed that a constitutional court had the power to order an investigation by CBI. However, the said power was to be exercised in exceptional circumstances, sparingly and cautiously, where it became necessary to provide credibility and to instil confidence in investigations or where the incident may have national and international ramifications. “Otherwise, CBI will be flooded with a large number of cases and with limited resources may find it difficult to properly investigate even serious cases, losing its credibility and purpose with unsatisfactory investigations,” the bench added.

The court elaborated that there were a number of factors why an investigation by CBI was not warranted. “There is nothing to suggest in the entire petition as to how there was any foul play in the investigation as conducted,” it said, adding that it appeared that the petitioner desired a “roving inquiry”.

“...an investigation by CBI cannot be ordered on the mere asking of a party,” the bench recorded, dismissing the plea.