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HC rejects CBI probe in judicial officers’ marital dispute
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has declined to transfer to the CBI the investigation into an FIR lodged by a male judicial officer against his wife's alleged paramour. Justice Shalini Singh…
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has declined to transfer to the CBI the investigation into an FIR lodged by a male judicial officer against his wife's alleged paramour. Justice Shalini Singh Nagpal held the case, rooted in a bitter matrimonial dispute between two Haryana judicial officers, did not meet the threshold of a 'rare and exceptional' case warranting such a transfer.
The petitioner, posted at Mahendragarh, alleged his wife and her paramour orchestrated a false complaint against him through his home peon, which was closed as baseless. He claimed the paramour then sponsored a press conference to publicise the allegations, and that he faced an open death threat. The FIR was registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Hisar Civil Lines police station.
The court found that the grounds cited by the petitioner, delay in FIR registration, failure to seek police custody, the investigating officer's absence at a bail hearing, did not establish bias or unfairness by the local police. Citing Supreme Court precedents, it reiterated that a CBI probe is an extraordinary power to be exercised sparingly, not as a routine remedy.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The ruling reinforces the high bar courts set for transferring investigations to the CBI, a power the Supreme Court has repeatedly said must be used only when the local police are demonstrably biased or the case has national ramifications. Here, both the complainant and the accused are judicial officers, raising questions of whether one could exploit their position to influence a local probe. The court's decision suggests that mere status or scandalous allegations, without concrete evidence of police misconduct, will not suffice. What remains to be seen is whether the petitioner will pursue an appeal in the Supreme Court, and whether the criminal trial will proceed without further delay affecting the couple's pending matrimonial proceedings.
Source: livelaw.in
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
