D K Ravi's death: HC disposes off plea

Petition sought to restrict publication of interim reports or public statement on the CID probe into his death

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday disposed off a petition seeking restrictions on publication of any interim report or making any public statement pertaining to investigation being conducted by the CID into the mysterious death of IAS officer D K Ravi.

The petition was filed by Sudhir Reddy, husband of a woman IAS officer, a batchmate of 35-year old D K Ravi who was found hanging from a fan at his apartment here on March 16, with police calling it prima facie a case of suicide.

Disposing of the plea, Justice Abdul Nazeer noted that the state government had given in writing that it would not make any statement in relation to the investigation as the case has been handed over to CBI for inquiry, thus losing its jurisdiction.

The judge also directed the High Court Registry to hand over the sealed investigation material to CBI. "This court directs the registry to hand over the sealed material to CBI, not unseal it. Let me be clear," he added.

Facing public outcry over the death of Ravi under mysterious circumstances, government had handed over the case to CBI after claims that he did not commit suicide.

The High Court had on March 24 directed Reddy to file objections to the government's plea.

The government had filed objections to the petition filed by Reddy, seeking restrictions on publication of any interim report or making any public statement pertaining to investigation being conducted by the government through CID.

The government had sought vacation of restraint on publishing or making public the interim report pertaining to the investigation carried out by CID into the death of Ravi.