Badaun murder case: HC asks CBI to finish probe, submit report by 19 September

Allahabad: Allahabad High Court today directed CBI to complete its investigation into the Badaun murder case, in which two teenage girls were killed after alleged sexual assault, and file its report on 19 September.

A division bench comprising Justice Dilip Gupta and Justice MC Tripathi passed the order after a perusal of a progress report into the investigation, which the CBI produced in a sealed cover and which was returned by the court forthwith.

The court fixed 19 September as the next date of hearing in the matter and asked the probe agency to produce on that date its report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (report of the investigating officer on completion of probe).

The order was filed in course of hearing on a PIL filed by “Stree Mukti Sangathan” which had demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident alleging that Uttar Pradesh police was unlikely to conduct a free and fair probe.

The Samajwadi Party government in the state, facing flak from all opposition parties, handed over the probe to CBI even before any order to the effect was passed by the High Court.

The court, nevertheless, said it would “monitor” the investigation.

The incident had taken place in Katra-Saadatganj village of Badaun district where the two girls, both of them cousins, were found hanging from a tree in May this year, a day after they had gone missing from their home.

The Hyderabad-based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) has, however, ruled out sexual assault on the teenage girls.

PTI