The Kerala High Court on Monday, January 6, dismissed a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of former Kannur Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu. The petition, filed by his wife, K Manjusha, was rejected by the Bench led by Justice Kauser Edapagath, which instead directed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to complete the investigation promptly and with due diligence.
The court appointed Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Yathish Chandra to oversee the case, particularly focusing on the possibility of homicide, and instructed him to keep the petitioner informed about the progress.
Naveen Babu died by suicide following allegations of corruption leveled against him by then Kannur panchayat president and CPI(M) leader PP Divya at a public gathering. In November last year, Manjusha approached the High Court, seeking a CBI probe, claiming that only an independent investigation could uncover the truth.
Manjusha’s counsel had insisted that the only way for the truth to come out was a CBI probe. She said that the SIT had failed to conduct an impartial probe and recalled that she had approached the magistrate court to protect CCTV footage from the District Collectorate premises, phone call logs, location data, and recordings involving District Collector Arun K Vijayan and petrol pump owner Prashant. Prashant had backed up Divya’s allegation that the ADM had accepted a bribe from him in exchange for a no objection certificate (NOC) for his petrol pump in Kannur.
Earlier, the SIT constituted to probe the case had told the High Court that there was no evidence to indicate homicide in the case. The team also dismissed allegations that are influenced by CPI(M) leaders in the district. Speaking to Malayalam media, Manjusha indicated that she would file an appeal against the verdict.