The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Narendra Modi government on a plea seeking a court-monitored investigation into the alleged suicides of a Ministry of Corporate Affairs official and his wife and two children in 2016.
B.K. Bansal was being investigated for corruption by the CBI and purportedly left behind a suicide note alleging torture by CBI officials. The suicides of Bansal and his family had created a political uproar in 2016, with opposition parties alleging foul play and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal even pointing fingers at BJP chief Amit Shah.
Kejriwal alleged one of the CBI officials named by Bansal in his suicide note had links to Shah. Interestingly, Kejriwal's official Facebook page has kept a dedicated album to show the suicide note purportedly written by Bansal.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud was hearing a PIL moved by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves. The petitioner sought a court-monitored probe as Bansal had accused the CBI of harassment.
Bansal, a former director-general of Corporate Affairs, was found hanging with his son at their residence in East Delhi in September 2016. In July that year, Bansal's wife and daughter allegedly committed suicide, citing harassment by the CBI.
Bansal was arrested earlier in July for allegedly accepting a bribe from a pharmaceutical company and was out on bail when he committed suicide.
After Bansal and his son committed suicide, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari demanded a court-monitored probe and asked whether the dead official had been privy to “deep secrets”.
(With PTI inputs)