SC expresses satisfaction into probe of missing museum officer

The Supreme Court today expressed satisfaction over the ongoing probe into a habeas corpus petition filed by a relative of whistleblower Sunil Kumar Upadhaya, a preservation officer of Indian Museum Kolkata, who is missing for the last over eight months.
A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and R K Agrawal granted eight weeks more time to West Bengal police to file its final status report into the probe conducted by the state police under the direct supervision of Special IG, CID Damayanti Sen.
"Prima facie, it appears that investigation has been moving in right direction," the bench said while perusing the status report which was filed on February 3.

The apex court was hearing a habeas corpus petition (a plea filed to secure presence of missing persons) filed by cousin of 34-year-old Sunil Kumar Upadhyay, the preservation officer, seeking a direction for CBI probe in the matter.
The petition, filed by Ghaziabad resident Krishan Mohan Upadhyay, said Sunil was a whistle blower who exposed alleged irregularities in the management of the Indian Museum.
It has been alleged that the officer has been missing since July 3 after he mentioned the alleged irregularities.
In the petition, filed through lawyer Anirudh Sharma, Sunil has raised several other issues including the security of museums across the country.

"In Indian Museum, out of 29 galleries, 14 were not covered under CCTV surveillance. Even the installed cameras were operational only during working hours. Thus there was no surveillance during night," the petitioner, referring to the CAG report, had said.