Valdaris death probe: HC raps CBI over lapse in investigation

The Bombay high court (HC) rapped the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for not conducting an impartial investigation into the death of 25-year-old Agnelo Valdaris

The Bombay high court (HC) rapped the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for not
conducting an impartial investigation into the death of 25-year-old Agnelo Valdaris on April 18, 2014.

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The CBI, in its charge sheet, concurred with the police report that Valdaris died after being knocked down by a train when he was trying to escape, and that it was not a case of custodial death.

The bench, however, asked the CBI why the charge sheet did not have the entries of the police station diary with the timeline of Valdaris being taken to court.

The court said, “You [CBI] are expected to conduct an impartial investigation, but it seems there was a lapse on your part.”

It asked the CBI to produce the document and posted the matter for Thursday.

A division bench was hearing a petition filed by Valdaris’s father, Leonard, seeking direction to book the accused police officers under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The CBI submitted that it applied the relevant sections for physical and sexual abuse on the accused , and added that it did not find enough evidence to apply Section 302.