The Bombay High Court thrashing hard the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for delaying the investigation and murder trials of slain rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi granted six additional weeks for the investigation.

However, the court has made it clear that it would not accept any more delays. The bench said, “If the investigations do not conclude fast, it might give an impression to the people at large that you do not want to arrest certain people.”

Under the suspicion that there is a common link between the three murders, the investigation agencies had sent ballistic samples to Scotland Yard for analysis. But, since May, the agencies have been requesting adjournments from the court by giving the reason that they are yet to receive the report.

The bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari and BP Collabawalla said, “We don’t want any adjournments now on the grounds that you are still to get the Scotland Yard report. On November 23, when you come to us the next time, the report should be with you.”

By asserting that the SIT officers are leaking the information into the news media, Judges said, “There are over-enthusiastic officers in the SIT who cannot resist publicity. Once they come across something crucial, they do not even wait for the court hearing before revealing everything to the media. We will close down the whole SIT unless you stop showing this over-enthusiasm.”

The counsel for Dabholkar and Pansare families, Ajay Nevagi said, “We do not find the investigation going in the correct direction. We had submitted sketches of two shooters last year itself, but the investigating agencies did not take any cognisance of the same.”

Later, the court directed the SIT and CBI to trace the people in the sketches, and also asked the agencies to take the help of the families, if required.

By Prajakt K.