Bangalore, March 14: The High Court on Tuesday rejected two petitions by the Mangalore Bar Association seeking a CBI probe into the missing case and suspected murder of Mangalore-based advocate Preetham Kumar.
Another petition by the mother of the deceased on the same grounds was also rejected by the court.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B V Nagarathna rejected the plea for CBI probe stating that when a 'B' report is filed in the case by CID before the jurisdictional court, it is improper for the High Court to proceed further in the matter.
However, the court made it clear that the order rejecting plea for CBI probe will have no bearing on the lower court. “The jurisdictional magistrate court can come to any conclusion based on the evidence including the nature of investigation conducted in the case,” the court ordered.
Additional Advocate General (AAG) K M Nataraj, who appeared before the Bench, submitted that the body of Preetham was fished out of the sea and a 'B' report was filed based on the DNA report and post mortem. “The case of murder has been ruled out and a 'B' report has been filed before the lower court. But the parents of the victim have refused to accept that it was the dead body of Preetham as claimed by the police,” the AAG said.
The petitions alleged that since the day Preetham went missing in 2010, the police failed to investigate the case effectively. They further stated that police inaction in the case was due to the backing of former minister Krishna Palemar. The advocate who went missing was allegedly in love with a girl who is said to be a distant relative of the former minister.
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