Narendra Dabholkar murder case: SC issues notice to CBI in daughter Mukta's plea

The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday while hearing a plea by Mukta Dabholkar, the daughter of Narendra Dabholkar, seeking the Bombay High Court's monitoring of the probe into the rationalist's 2013 killing.

A division bench, headed by Justice SK Kaul, also directed Mukta to provide a copy of the plea to the central agency and scheduled the matter for hearing on July 2.

Mukta's special leave petition

Mukta has filed a special leave petition before the apex court, challenging the HC's order discontinuing the monitoring of the CBI's probe in the case.

Abhay Nevagi, counsel for Mukta, submitted that the high court should continue monitoring the probe as the mastermind behind Dabholkar's killing has not yet been identified. He also claimed that the CBI has not conducted a proper investigation and there are still many loopholes to be probed.

On April 18, the HC bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and PD Naik discontinued the monitoring of the probe by the CBI, stating that further monitoring was not necessary. The high court also mentioned that once the chargesheet is submitted to the proper court, the process of court-monitoring investigation comes to an end, and it is up to that court to take cognizance of the matter.

Dabholkar, the founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, an anti-superstition organization, was shot dead by two assailants on motorcycles while on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013. The assailants were allegedly linked to the radical outfit Sanatan Sanstha.

Trial currently ongoing before the Special UAPA Court in Pune

Initially, the case was investigated by the Deccan police station in Pune. Following petitions by journalist Ketan Tirodkar and later by Mukta, the investigation was transferred to the CBI in 2014, and since then, the court has been monitoring the probe. The central agency has been submitting periodical reports to the high court.

The trial is currently ongoing before the Special UAPA Court in Pune. As of March 29, 18 witnesses have already been examined, and less than five witnesses remain to be examined. The prosecution is not expected to summon the remaining witnesses.

Nevagi has argued that the murders of Dabholkar, Comrade Govind Pansare, journalist Gauri Lankesh, Professor MM Kalburgi, and the Nalasopara arms case were committed in an organized manner. The charge sheets filed in these cases establish that the motive behind the murders was to systematically eliminate certain people or rationalists. Furthermore, all of these cases are interconnected, and the mastermind behind them has not yet been arrested.