Uttarakhand High Court directs CBI to investigate a case of a mysteriously missing Delhi family of five from Haridwar in 2008 with no trace till yet !
The two judge bench of High Court of Uttarakhand comprising of Sir Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Rakesh Thapliyal has issued urgent directives to the India’s premier investigation agency CBI to investigate the case of a family of five persons mysteriously missing since 2008 while reaching Mussoorie and thereafter Haridwar from Adarsh Nagar Delhi and termed the inaction of CBI as most unfortunate after it declined to carry on the investigations terming it an old case despite the CB- CID handing over the case to the India’s premier investigation agency, apart from the UHC directing it to do so.
The High Court judgement directing CBI to investigate the matter forthwith under the monitoring of the Uttarakhand High Court said that from reading of the judgement dated 01.06.2010 passed in Habeas Corpus petition No. 12 of 2008 it is clear to us that the Court was also inclined to transfer the case to CBI looking to the gravity of the situation.
The state government has itself issued a notification dated 6.5.2010 and therefore it is abundantly clear that the state government was also willing to hand over the investigation to the CBI. However, despite the High Court issuing its directives through an order to investigate this important case, the CBI declined to take up this case for investigation which was unfortunate.
Merely because the case was old , was no reason for the CBI not to take up the case for investigation once the notification was issued by the state and order passed by the High Court mentioned the HC’s judgement .
It added : It is not for the CBI to investigate only early cases and pick low hanging fruits said the Uttarakhand HC in its final judgement asking CBI to investigate it thoroughly and go to the root of the mysterious disappearance of the five members of the family since the year 2008 from Haridwar, Uttarakhand.
While giving the final judgement taking a very serious view of this fifteen year old case regarding the mysterious disappearance of five members of an Adarsh Nagar, Delhi family, not to found thill date despite best efforts of the petitioner, the Uttarakhand High Court said : We therefore dispose off this writ petition with a direction to the CBI to forthwith take up the investigation of the two FIRs registered in 2008 with regard to this case in right earnest.
The Court also directed the CBI to submit the status report of its investigations in this case latest by the month of October dated 11 , 2023 including directing the state government to render all possible help and support to the central investigating agency CBI in the conduct of investigations.
It may be recalled that that the petitioner Pushplata Khera’s brother Rakesh Pahuja, resident of Delhi Adarsh Nagar had alongwith his wife Veena Pahuja, daughter Preeti, son Paras and niece Priyanka has gone to Mussoorie and thereafter Haridwar on an outing in the year 2008 on 25 June. Thereafter the entire family of five had mysteriously gone missing with no trace of their mobile numbers, car they were travelling in and their locations etc.
Thereafter two FIRs were lodged in Haridwar Police station Kotwali and a closure report after failed investigations in relation to FIR number : 659/208 was filed on 21.7.1012 and also accepted by learned Chief Judicial Magistrate on 9.12.2017 during the National Lok Adalat.
The case was strongly fought in the Uttarakhand High Court by Mrs Shousmita Nag on behalf of the petitioner Pushaplata Khera as her counsel whereas the state government was represented by J. S. Virk, deputy advocate general as Counsel for state and advocate Kuldeep Parihar as counsel for respondent number 3 with Uttarakhand High Court strictly directing the CBI to investigate the matter and submit its action taken report by October 2023.
SUPREME COURT ADVOCATE KULDEEP PARIHAR COUNSEL OF Petitioner PUSHPLATA KHERA
