The Kerala High Court on Wednesday slammed the State Police Chief (SPC) for the delay in complying with its directive to hand over the probe into the brutal murder of two Youth Congress leader at Periye in Kasaragod to the CBI.
When a petition filed by the parents of slain Youth Congress leaders Kripesh and Sharat Lal seeking to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the State government came up for hearing, Justice B. Sudheendra Kumar orally observed that there was gross negligence on the part of the State Police Chief.
The court added that he seems to have taken the High Court order lightly.
The court also took note of the fact that the State government had not filed any appeal before a Division Bench against its order. Nor had it obtained any stay on its directive.
That apart, no petition had been filed seeking more time to hand over the files to the CBI. Once the High Court issued an order, it should be implemented at the earliest.
The court warned that it would have to summon the State Police Chief. Even delay of a day would cause destruction of crucial evidence in the case. As it had ordered the CBI to take over the case forthwith, the delay in handing over the files could not be brooked, the court observed.
The court directed the prosecution to explain the reason for the delay in handing over the case files to CBI on October 28.
