NEW DELHI: A city court here on Monday directed the Delhi police to inform it by Tuesday whether they had investigated or were probing from the angle of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the Rahul Mahajan episode as Bibek Moitra had died due to alleged consumption of drugs.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau directed the investigating officer in the case to take a stand on the court's queries. "When a person has died an unnatural death following taking of drugs which were supplied and distributed by some persons, the law of the land requires that the case should also be investigated under Section 304 of the IPC dealing with culpable homicide not amounting to murder,'' said Ms. Lau.

She said that when people died in a hooch tragedy, police registered two cases — one under the Excise Act and "the other under 304 of the IPC which is attracted if a crime is done with knowledge that it is likely to cause death but without intention....''

Replying to the court's queries, Assistant Public Prosecutor submitted that the police had so far not investigated the case from that angle, but it was under consideration.

Case of suicide

When the court pressed the investigating officer to determine the nature of the death of Bibek Moitra, he said that it might be a case of suicide.

The court put these queries to the police during the hearing of a plea for a transit remand of Sahil Zaroo sought by the Mumbai police to produce him before a court there in compliance of a non-bailable arrest warrant in connection with a case.

Ms. Lau said she wanted a clear-cut reply from the Delhi Police Commissioner whether there was any other case apart from the drug abuse one pending against Sahil before giving his transit remand to the Mumbai police.

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