'Probe Rape Victim Accident Case In 7 Days'
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Thursday gave the direction to the agency after dismissing Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta’s plea for a month’s time for completing the probe.
“How much time do you need (for investigating the accident of Unnao rape survivor & others)?” asked Gogoi.
“A month,” replied the SG.
But the CJI remarked, “A month? No, investigate in 7 days”
“We will come back at 2 PM and pass an order on transfer of all the five cases and medical attention to the victim and her lawyer. Doctors are the best judges. They can decide whether she and her lawyer can be airlifted to Delhi.”
Supreme Court during the hearing said it will grant compensation to the rape survivor and her family, and direct the state to pay compensation.
Earlier in the day, the CJI ordered the CBI to present the status of the investigations after the agency was given charge of the probe into the accident and the FIR that included murder charges against rape accused and BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar.
When the SG said the Investigating Officer was out of station and sought time till tomorrow morning for the agency to submit a report, the CJI dismissed it asking CBI to depute some official who can gather the information over phone and present it to the court.
CBI Joint Director Sampat Meena, a woman officer, appeared before the bench and gave the status of the probe into the two cases.
The court is also likely to transfer the case out of Uttar Pradesh.
Yesterday, CJI Gogoi had sought an explanation from the Secretary-General of Supreme Court for the delay in placing the letter of Unnao rape survivor’s mother before the court.
On July 28, a truck rammed into the vehicle in which the Unnao rape survivor, her counsel and two aunts were travelling to Raebareli. While she and her lawyer sustained grievous injuries, her aunts were killed on the spot. The Unnao rape survivor and her lawyer, who is being treated at King George’s Medical University are stable, the hospital said on Wednesday.
The Uttar Pradesh Police filed a case of murder against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and nine others in connection with the accident. Probe in the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday after which the CBI registered a case in connection with the rape survivor’s accident in Raebareli.
Sengar, a legislator from Bangermau in Unnao district, had allegedly raped the girl at his residence in Unnao on June 4, 2017, where she had gone to seek a job. He is currently lodged in Sitapur district jail.
(ANI)
