The high court bench, which on Monday acquitted all the 12 people who were convicted in the Haren Pandya murder case by the trial court, severely criticised the investigation in the case done by the CBI.
Criticising the investigating officers of the probe agency, the court raised several questions about the lack of effort shown by the officers to collect proper evidence. The bench said that the investigating officer had failed to collect vital evidence from the spot and had not examined Pandya's call records to know his last location and the details of his last phone calls.
The court also said that Pandya's shoes had mysteriously disappeared from the hospital. The shoes were important as they could have indicated whether he had actually gone for a morning walk on the fateful day, the court observed.
Raising serious questions about the spot where Pandya body was found, the court observed that no blood was found in Pandya's car except a negligible stain on the seat beside the driver's seat. On the other hand, his clothes bore tell-tale signs of profuse bleeding from injuries on the neck and forearm.
"His mobile phone and the keys which were lying on the floor of the car below the seat had stains of blood," the bench said.
"No effort was made to investigate the recent calls from
and to the phone, even to find out the time of [the murder] since Pandya had ceased to answer or open SMS messages," the court said.
The bench further observed that no fingerprints were lifted either from the car or from the weapon recovered afterwards.
"The shoes worn by Pandya on the fateful day could have provided some clue as to whether he had already walked in the garden. They were mysteriously missing from the hospital and it could not be known whether they had bloodstains on them. No proper map of the scene of offence was made, and the position of the eyewitnesses was not ascertained," the court said as it gave an account of the lapses in the CBI's investigation.
Criticising the lack of effort made by the probe agency, the court observed: "The investigation clearly appears to have been misdirected and blinkered and has left a lot to be desired."
Criticising the investigating officers of the probe agency, the court raised several questions about the lack of effort shown by the officers to collect proper evidence. The bench said that the investigating officer had failed to collect vital evidence from the spot and had not examined Pandya's call records to know his last location and the details of his last phone calls.
The court also said that Pandya's shoes had mysteriously disappeared from the hospital. The shoes were important as they could have indicated whether he had actually gone for a morning walk on the fateful day, the court observed.
Raising serious questions about the spot where Pandya body was found, the court observed that no blood was found in Pandya's car except a negligible stain on the seat beside the driver's seat. On the other hand, his clothes bore tell-tale signs of profuse bleeding from injuries on the neck and forearm.
"His mobile phone and the keys which were lying on the floor of the car below the seat had stains of blood," the bench said.
"No effort was made to investigate the recent calls from
and to the phone, even to find out the time of [the murder] since Pandya had ceased to answer or open SMS messages," the court said.
The bench further observed that no fingerprints were lifted either from the car or from the weapon recovered afterwards.
"The shoes worn by Pandya on the fateful day could have provided some clue as to whether he had already walked in the garden. They were mysteriously missing from the hospital and it could not be known whether they had bloodstains on them. No proper map of the scene of offence was made, and the position of the eyewitnesses was not ascertained," the court said as it gave an account of the lapses in the CBI's investigation.
Criticising the lack of effort made by the probe agency, the court observed: "The investigation clearly appears to have been misdirected and blinkered and has left a lot to be desired."