B K Bansal suicide: SC issues notice to Centre, CBI

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the controversial suicide case of senior bureaucrat Bal Kishan Bansal, who was arrested on  corruption charges.

The petitioner, E A Sharma, a retired bureaucrat, had knocked the doors of the apex court seeking an impartial CBI probe into the alleged death of the Bansal family.

The petition seeks the setting up of a team of senior officers of impeccable integrity and independence to take over from the CBI the investigation into the deaths of Bansal and his family and to prosecute the accused in accordance with law.

In Bansal's alleged suicide note, it was mentioned that his family was tortured by CBI Deputy Inspector General Sanjeev Gautam and his team members.

Bansal had named several persons for making his family's life "hell", including Gautam, Superintendent of Police Amrita Kaur, Deputy Superintendent of Police Rekha Sangwan and Investigating Officer Harnam Singh, apart from an unnamed head constable.

In view of the charges, the CBI had recused Gautam from the team probing the corruption charges by Bansal, who along with his 31-year-old son committed suicide in September end.

In July, Bansal was arrested by the CBI on charges of corruption. Hours after he was produced in court, his wife Satyabala (58) and daughter Neha (28) were found hanging in two separate rooms at their residence in Neelkanth Apartments on July 22 after CBI's second raid at their residence.