Supreme Court dismisses Delhi High Court verdict, orders CBI probe into death of Manipuri woman

The SIT in its report concluded that the woman had committed suicide by consuming some poison or medicine, though the viscera reports did not reveal the presence of any common poison or medicine in the Exhibits

PTI, New Delhi, 26.03.24 :  Unresolved crimes tend to erode public trust in the institutions which have been established for maintaining law and order, the Supreme Court has said while directing a CBI probe into the death of a 25-year-old Manipuri woman who was found dead under mysterious circumstances in her rented house in south Delhi in 2013.

The body of the deceased, A S Reingamphi, was discovered on May 29, 2013 by the landlord of the tenanted premises who alerted the Police Control Room at 11 am on the same day. The cause of death could not be ascertained in the post mortem report.

The FIR was registered at the Malviya Nagar police station against unknown accused persons under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The investigation was transferred to the Malviya Nagar Crime Branch, and pursuant to representations by her cousins, offence under Section 302 (murder) of IPC was added.

Later, two cousins of the deceased woman filed a petition in the Delhi High Court praying for direction for the investigation to be given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The high court dismissed the plea saying the investigation has been carried out by the investigating agency seemingly without any bias and nothing has emerged on record if the landlord Raj Kumar and his brother-in-­law Amit Sharma were having strong connection with any politician to influence the investigation.

The deceased woman's cousins Awungshi Chirmayo and Thotreithem Longpinao challenged the high court order in the apex court, which in 2019 constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to monitor the investigation.

The SIT in its report concluded that the woman had committed suicide by consuming some poison or medicine, though the viscera reports did not reveal the presence of any common poison or medicine in the Exhibits.

The top court said apparently there seems to be no reason for a young girl of 25 years of age to commit suicide.

"Prima facie it does not seem to be a case of suicide. The crime scene shows that blood was spattered on the floor and the bed sheet was completely drenched in blood. It appears to be a homicidal death and, therefore, the culprits must be apprehended," the apex court said.

A bench of justices J K Maheshwari and Sudhanshu Dhulia set aside an order of the Delhi High Court which had dismissed the plea of her cousins to transfer the investigation to the CBI.

"It is to observe that unresolved crimes tend to erode public trust in institutions which have been established for maintaining law and order. Criminal investigation must be both fair and effective.

"We say nothing on the fairness of the investigation... but the fact that it has been ineffective is self evident. The kith and kin of the deceased who live far away in Manipur have a real logistical problem while approaching authorities in Delhi, yet they have their hope alive, and have shown trust and confidence in this system," the bench said.

The top court said it is of the considered view that this case needs to be handed over to the CBI for a proper investigation and also to remove any doubts in the minds of the appellants, and to bring the real culprits to justice.

"In view of the discussion made above, the order of the Delhi High Court dated May 18, 2018, dismissing the prayer of the present appellants to transfer the investigation to CBI is hereby set aside.

"The appeal is hereby allowed and we direct... CBI to hold enquiry in the matter. The case shall be transferred from SIT to the CBI. The SIT, which has so far conducted the investigation in the matter, will hand over all the relevant papers and documents to CBI for investigation," the Supreme Court said.

After a thorough investigation, the CBI will submit its complete investigation report or charge sheet before the concerned court as expeditiously as possible, it said.