E-Paper
Decade of dead ends: Activist Shetty’s family back to the future on murder case
CBI was close to solving case before it closed rank and file; activists watching rue state of affairs
Ten years after Satish Shetty, a Pune-based RTI activist seeking information about a road project in Maharashtra was brutally killed, his case has reached a dead end.
With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) closing the case in April 2018, and no developments since then, Shetty’s murder still haunts his family members and other RTI activists in the state who are seeking answers regarding Shetty’s actual killers.
Shetty, 38, was in the process of unearthing what he believed was a multi-crore land grab scam adjacent to Pune-Mumbai expressway, when he was stabbed to death on January 13, 2010, while he was returning home from his morning walk.
His brother Sandeep Shetty has since been doggedly following up with the police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – to whom the case was entrusted - the trial court and the Bombay high court, for over a decade. “There has been no development in the case. The CBI in its closure report has not made any observations in their submission. I had also filed a petition to review this decision but there has not been any development since then.”
According to Shetty’s family members, with 10 years since Shetty’s murder, many questions still remain unanswered. The family and activists have also questioned if the police and agencies are interested in probing the incident.
Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, who has been actively involved in protection of citizen rights said, “The method in handling such an important case of Satish Shetty has sent a message that powerful criminals can go free. At least 84 activists were assassinated post Shetty’s murder in progressive states like Gujarat and Maharashtra. The criminal justice system has to deliver justice to the common man and not obliterate justice.”
On May 18, 2019, Bombay high court turned down two writ petitions filed by Sandeep, seeking direction to the CBI to further investigate the 2010 murder case. The two-judge bench in their order observed, that there is no justifiable reason to presume that CBI investigation is still insufficient after examining 500 witnesses. “We cannot set aside such an order merely on surmises and conjectures or on any media report. We do not find reports filed by the CBI as vague closure report,” the High Court said.
CBI’s closure report
In April 2018, in its final closure report submitted before additional sessions judge VK Kadam , CBI stated that no new evidence came up during investigation against the persons named in the first information report (FIR) and closed the case against nine persons, including the top executive of an infrastructure firm.
The probe agency’s report came days after the court in Pune discharged top officials of the infrastructure firm named in the alleged land-grabbing case that Shetty was working on prior to his murder.
The CBI, has made it clear that it will continue to pursue the case against two out of 11 persons named in the FIR, even as there has been no substantial progress besides filing chargesheet against former assistant inspector Namdeo Kauthale and former inspector BR Andhalkar.
Earlier too in 2014, CBI had closed the Shetty murder case in the absence of “prosecutable evidence”, but reopened it in February 2015, after Shetty’s brother Sandeep approached the Bombay high court.
“The way this case has been handled shows that you can get away with anything. However, MY optimism is now with the judges’ integrity and I have hope in them. I will continue with my quest for justice till my last breath,” said Sandeep.
In Oct 2009, slain RTI activist Satish Shetty had filed a first information report (FIR) at Talegaon police station against Virendra Mhaiskar, chairman and managing director, Ideal Road Builder (IRB) and 12 others for illegally buying land belonging to the state. Thirteen persons were named by Shetty in a land-grab case and forging of documents.
