The Bombay high court on Friday gave six weeks time to CBI to obtain the reports of forensic science laboratory of Scotland Yard on evidence in the murder cases of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, communist leader Govind Pansare and scholar MM Kalburgi.
The evidence was sent to Scotland Yard to find out whether there were links between the murders of the three rationalists, as it is suspected that same kind of weapons were used in all the killings.
However, a division bench headed by Justice SC Dharmadhikari told CBI that this was the last opportunity being given to it to obtain forensic lab reports from abroad and cautioned that no further adjournments will be given.
“We have given you (CBI) enough time since May 2016 to obtain forensic lab reports of Scotland Yard and no more time will be given after the next hearing,” said the bench.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh informed the court that all the necessary permissions and clearances had been obtained from the authorities for going to Scotland Yard. He also said an officer would personally go abroad along with the documents and obtain reports from the foreign lab.
The bench also asked the Special Investigating Team of the Maharashtra government, which is probing the Govind Pansare murder case, to exercise caution when it comes to witnesses’ protection and not to disclose any investigation details to the media.
Justice Dharmadhikari said an SIT officer had been quoted in a newspaper report on investigation details in Pansare murder case. Because of these revelations, the absconding accused would get alerted and might escape thereby hampering investigations, the judge said.
The matter has been posted for hearing on 23 November, when CBI has been asked to submit forensic reports on alleged links in these three murder cases.
While Dabholkar and Pansare were killed at different places in Maharashtra, Kalburgi was shot dead in Karnataka.
The bench is hearing a batch of petitions filed by the families of Dabholkar and Pansare seeking monitoring of probes in both the cases by the high court.
Dabholkar was killed in Pune on 20 August 2013, while Pansare was shot on 16 February 2015 in Kolhapur. He succumbed to his injuries four days later. Kalburgi was shot dead on 30 August last year at his residence in Dharwad district of Karnataka by two unidentified men.
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