The Supreme Court on Friday refused to direct further investigation by CBI into the murder of a Jalgaon Congress leader in a case in which the Bombay High Court has rejected a plea to make President Pratibha Patil's brother G N Patil as an accused. The apex court also declined the plea of Rajni Patil, wife of the slain Congress leader from Jalgaon Vishram Patil, to set aside the order of the High Court and monitor the investigation into the case.
"There is no question of giving any direction to CBI," a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices A K Ganguly and B S Chauhan said adding it cannot also direct the agency to file the chargesheet by naming two suspects G N Patil and Ulhas Patil as accused. "How can we direct CBI to file chargesheet against these two persons when it has investigated the case and submitted the report to the High Court?" the Bench said while turning down the plea of advocate Mahesh Jethmalani that if these two persons are not chargesheeted, the conspiracy charge will never be proved.
Jethmalani and advocate Kamini Jaiswal, appearing for the slain leader's wife, said the widow had told the police that G N Patil and Ulhas Patil had allegedly hired two persons to kill her husband. The Bench described the circumstances as "unfortunate" for the widow who is fighting the case "tenaciously" and said she had recorded her statement seven days after the incident. PTI
