High Court rejects plea to entrust Preetham’s case to CBI

High Court rejects plea to entrust Preetham’s case to CBI

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, March 14, 2012 :The Karnataka High Court ruled on March 13 Tuesday that the case of the kidnapping and murder of Preetham Kumar, a young lawyer in Mangalore, need not be entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The advocate had gone missing, following which his parents alleged that he has been kidnapped by a government official because he was in love with the said government official’s daughter. A minister was also alleged to be involved in the affair. The government had therefore handed over the case to the Corps of Detectives.

The Mangalore Bar Association as well as the parents of Preetham sought CBI inquiry into the case as they were not satisfied that they had gotten justice. Their writ petitions were dismissed by a division bench comprising Justice B. V. Nagaratna and Chief Justice V. J. Sen.

According to the bench, entrusting this case to the CBI at this point of time when the case is being heard in a lower court and when the police have filed a B report would not be proper. The bench also said that the litigants may place allegations such as improper police inquiry owing to political influence, silence on the part of Niyati, who was reportedly in love with Preetham, and members of the family, the fact that nobody has been taken into custody for interrogation, and others before the lower court.

The high court is also of the opinion that the lower court has the power to consider all evidence and take a decision and that it is not the proper time for the high court to interfere in this matter.

While Preetham’s parents state that their son was kidnapped and murdered in Jan 2010, the police state that Preetham committed suicide by jumping into the sea because of stress and tension. While the police claim that a party decomposed body retrieved from the sea is that of Preetham, his parents have hotly denied that the body belongs to their son.