KISHORE KUMAR MUNNA Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition has been filed for a writ in the nature of habeas corpus for production of one Rohit Kumar Jha, and for other consequential reliefs as may be considered fit and proper.

(2.) SAID Rohit Kumar Jha, resident of village Nagarpara within Bihpur Police Station of Bhagalpur district was posted as Estimating Officer in the Works Division of the REO at Saharsa at the relevant time. On 4.12.2002 his wife Neela Jha lodged a missing reporttreated as fardbeyanat the Saharsa Police Station alleging that her husband had gone out to meet the Executive Engineer at about 6.45 A.M. but had not returned home. On enquiry, she learnt that he did not reach the house of the Executive Engineer. He was reportedly seen by one Guddu Singh near house of Dr. Nutan Jha going towards west on a cycle rickshaw and BijayThakur, Choukidar of the departmental godown near Saharsa Law College. At about 7.30 -7.45 A.M. one Lallu Jha along with another person had come on motorcycle to meet her husband. Some time after one Brahmanand Jha, another contractor, came. Subhash Singh, a Junior Engineer, also came searching her husband. In the circumstances, she expressed fear that her husband had been kidnapped and taken somewhere for oblique motive. She disclosed that her husband was in a perturbed state of mind due to official work for the last couple of days.

(3.) THE further case of the petitioner is that considering the nature of the case the Director General & Inspector General of Police (DGP) Bihar recommended to the State Government that the case be entrusted to the CBI for investigation. However, the State Government was sitting tight in the matter apparently under the influence of the Minister Ashok Kumar Singh. Instead, a decision was taken to entrust the investigation to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). It is alleged that the experience in the State of Bihar shows that whenever the case is intended to be thrown in the cold storage in order to protect any influential accused, the cases are handed over to the CtD.