KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed the state-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to continue with the investigation into the unnatural death of student leader Anis Khan on the grounds that it would be “too premature” to form any opinion about SIT, directing a district judge to oversee the investigation and the process of exhuming Anis’s body, conducting a second autopsy and handing over his cellphone to the investigating team.
Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the SIT to submit a progress report within two weeks, before the court heard the matter again on March 10. “This court would like to first evaluate the investigation of the SIT, the adequacy of which can only be determined thereafter,” Justice Mantha observed, three days after the court took suo motu cognizance of the matter.
Senior counsel Bikash Bhattacharya, representing Anis’s father, submitted during the hearing that the family had “little faith” in the state police and had thus objected to exhuming his body or conducting a second autopsy.
Bengal advocate-general S N Mookherjee said the state was “very serious about the investigation”, adding that both the Amta police and the entire Howrah (Rural) district police had been kept out of the probe process.
The court overruled the petitioner’s objection and directed North 24 Parganas district judge Rai Chattopadhyay to oversee the SIT investigation in general and the process of exhuming Anis’s body, conducting a second autopsy and handing over his cellphone to the investigating team. The court also directed the district judge to supervise the Test Identification (TI) parade of the accused and nominate a person of the rank of magistrate to be present during the second post-mortem.
At the same time, the court directed the SIT to proceed with “urgency and expeditiously.” “It is expected that no stone will be left unturned in the course of such investigation, which shall be carried out in letter and spirit and by the book,” it observed.
Justice Mantha ordered for a copy of the second postmortem report to reach the petitioner, along with the SIT. The court also directed the handing over of Anis’s cellphone, now with his family, to the SIT under the supervision of the district judge. “The mobile phone shall be duly sealed in presence of the representative of the petitioner and/or a representative of the SIT investigating officer and sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad.... A copy of the meta data/digital footprint of the phone and its contents shall be preserved,” the court ordered.
Justice Mantha directed the SIT and the state to ensure “full and adequate protection” to all witnesses.
