The top court took this decision after observing serious lapses in the investigation conducted by the local police and the medical authorities.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India has transferred the investigation into the custodial torture and death of 25-year-old Deva Pardhi in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
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The top court took this decision after observing serious lapses in the investigation conducted by the local police and the medical authorities.
The case was heard by a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.
The Court noted that although the Medical Board found multiple injuries on the victim’s body, it “deliberately failed to state the cause of death,” suggesting that the doctors were likely under pressure from the local police.
The Bench pointed out,
“These circumstances give rise to a clear inference that the investigation by the local police is not being carried out in a fair and transparent manner and there is an imminent possibility of the prosecution being subjugated by the accused if the investigation is left in the hands of the State police, who are apparently shielding their own fellow policemen owing to the camaraderie.”
On June 2, 2024, during the haldi ceremony (pre-wedding function) of Deva Pardhi, several policemen entered the venue without warning. They allegedly beat up Deva and his uncle Gangaram Pardhi, and then took them into custody in connection with a theft case.
The two were allegedly taken to a police station that had no CCTV cameras, where they were tortured brutally. The allegations include:
- Severe beatings
- Pouring petrol and chili powder on their bodies
- Waterboarding
Due to this extreme torture, Deva Pardhi died in custody. Although the post-mortem showed multiple injuries, the official cause of death was vaguely mentioned as vasovagal shock, which raised doubts and suspicion of police influence on the medical report.
The only eyewitness, Gangaram Pardhi, was illegally detained, then placed in judicial custody, and later implicated in several criminal cases. These steps were allegedly taken to silence him and suppress his testimony about the custodial torture and death.
After examining all the facts, the Supreme Court strongly condemned the actions of the local police. The Bench stated:
“We are, therefore, convinced that this is a classic case warranting invocation of the Latin maxim ‘nemo judex in causa sua’ which means that ‘no one should be a judge in his own cause’. The allegation of causing custodial death of Deva Pardhi is against the local police officials of Myana Police Station. The fact that the police officials have influenced the investigation right from the beginning is amply borne out from the circumstance that even the doctors, who conducted autopsy of the dead body of Deva Pardhi, seem to have been pressurised/influenced…therefore, we deem it fit and essential to direct that the investigation of FIR No. 341 of 2024 shall forthwith be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.”
In its May 15 judgment, the Supreme Court:
- Ordered the CBI to take over the case.
- Directed that if police officers are found guilty, they must be arrested within one month.
- Instructed the CBI to complete the investigation within 90 days of any arrest.
- Allowed Gangaram Pardhi to apply for bail before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which has been told to hear and decide the matter quickly.
- Ordered the Madhya Pradesh government to provide protection to Gangaram under the witness protection scheme.
The Bench added:
“A deliberate attempt is being made to somehow or the other, implicate Gangaram Pardhi in multiple cases, one after the other, so as to keep him behind bars indefinitely, and break his spirit and the spirit of his family members thereby ensuring that the said person being the star witness of the custodial death of Deva Pardhi is not only demoralized but is also prevented from deposing against the errant police officials.”
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The victim’s side was represented by a group of lawyers including:
Payoshi Roy, Siddhartha, S Prabu Ramasubramanian, Nikita Sonavane, Sagar Soni, Maheshwari Mawase, Madhvi Gomathieswaran, Bharathimohan M, Avinash Kumar, V Swetha, and Vairawan AS.
The State of Madhya Pradesh was represented by Additional Solicitor Generals Aishwarya Bhati and Nachiketa Joshi, along with lawyers Yashraj Singh Bundela, Pratima Singh, Saloni, Arpit Garg, Dhruv Sharma, Shikhar Goel, Pranav Sachdeva, Shivam Gaur, and Nitin Sharma.
