The Kerala High Court on Friday, April 5, asked the Union government to issue necessary orders to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for investigating the death of Kerala veterinary college student Sidharthan’s death. While considering the plea filed by Sidharthan’s father Jayaprakash, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas asked the Union government to issue the notification under section 5 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
Sidharthan was a second-year student at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Science University (KVASU), Pookode in Wayanad. He was found dead in the hostel bathroom on February 18. The police had registered the 20-year-old’s death as a case of unnatural death. Later, the post-mortem report revealed that he was assaulted by his college mates, days before his death on February 18. Connecting this, 18 students were arrested. At least four of the 18 people arrested in the case were official members of the Student Federation of India (SFI) members. An anti ragging committee report also came out on March 9.
On April 4, Jayaprakash approached the court to seek a CBI investigation. He alleged that the Kerala government had deliberately delayed the CBI investigation to facilitate the bail for the accused.
According to Live Law, The Court orally observed that delay in entrusting the investigation with the CBI would cause serious prejudice and affect the entire investigation.
The investigation was reportedly delayed due to the non-forwarding of certain essential documents to the Union Government by the State Government. The court stated that the Kerala government should ensure all documents were forwarded to the Union Government without delay after sanctioning the CBI investigation. However, a special prosecutor of the CBI submitted that the state government had issued the notification and was waiting for the Union government to do the same. On March 8, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had passed orders sanctioning the CBI to inquire into the case.
Meanwhile on March 28, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan appointed former High Court Judge A Hariprasad as an Inquiry Commissioner to probe the death of Sidharthan. Hariprasad is tasked to investigate the alleged lapses of the University management in connection with the death of Sidharthan.