BK Bansal suicide: SC seeks detailed reply from Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Union of India after hearing a petition seeking an independent investigation into the controversial suicide case of senior bureaucrat Bal Kishan Bansal, who was arrested on alleged corruption charges.

A three-judge bench of the top court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and also comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, has sought a detailed reply from the Centre within four weeks.

The CJI led bench also asked the central government to respond to the petition of EA Sharma, a retired bureaucrat, as to why an independent investigation into the alleged suicide of Bansal would not be initiated into the case.

On November 21, 2016 Sharma had knocked the doors of the apex court seeking an impartial Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged death of the Bansal family. In Bansal's alleged suicide note, it was mentioned that his family was allegedly tortured by CBI Deputy Inspector General Sanjeev Gautam and his team members.

Bansal, who was a former Director General of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had named several persons for allegedly 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 alleged corruption charges against Bansal.

Along with his 31-year-old son, Bansal allegedly committed suicide in September end.

In July 2016, Bansal was arrested by the CBI on charges of alleged 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.

Both women left separate suicide notes, saying the CBI raid had allegedly caused "great humiliation and they did not want to live after that". They, however, held nobody responsible for their death.