New Delhi: Nearly after three week of the alleged suicide of IAS D K Ravi, CBI has turned down the request of Karnataka Government seeking a time-bound probe. According to sources CBI had said that there is no provision in law to complete investigations in a given time-period.
Top CBI sources said that a communication has been sent to Department of Personnel and Training requesting for a fresh notification to takeover probe in Ravi’s death.
Sources further said once fresh notification is received, the agency will examine the matter whether to takeover probe or not in the controversial death which has snowballed into a major political controversy in Karnataka.
The sources added that the notification received from DoPT has come with a request to complete the probe within three months which was not according to law.
They said state government handing over probe to CBI cannot give time limit for concluding the probe, hence a fresh notification has been sought from the state government.
Ravi, 36, had a reputation as a fiercely honest officer who fought tough opponents including the powerful sand mafia in areas of Karnataka like Kolar, about 100 kms from the capital of Bengaluru.
On March 16, Ravi was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his apartment in Bengaluru. His wife and parents say their son did not commit suicide, an assessment offered initially by the state police.
The case was being probed by Karnataka CID. Opposition parties and activists then mounted pressure on the state government demanding that the investigation in the case be handed over to CBI.
The death of Ravi, spiralled into a major controversy after Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah initially refused to seek a CBI probe in the case.
The decision to transfer the probe to CBI come after Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote in March to Ravi’s wife promising a fair and transparent probe into the incident.
This came after Ravi’s mother reportedly wrote an open letter to her seeking an impartial probe. Siddaramaiah had said there had never been a case where an incident had straightaway been referred to CBI immediately after its occurrence.
With the federal set-up in the country, the Centre could not refer a case suo motu to CBI and could do so based on a state’s request, he had said.
The state government had maintained that Ravi’s death prima facie seemed to be a case of suicide, but the opposition parties and the family of the IAS officer have refused to accept the theory.
Ravi’s family had raised doubts over the police claim that he committed suicide, saying that he was under “political pressure”.