The Hyderabad High Court is contemplating handing over the re-investigation of Ayesha Meera murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Resuming the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition on Ayesha’s murder, the HC told the CBI counsel Surender on Monday that it was thinking of assigning the sensational case to the premier investigation agency. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice S.V. Bhatt felt the CBI could probably handle the case better.
Andhra Pradesh’s Special Government Pleader Krishna Prakash, presenting his arguments, said it was turning out to be difficult for the State agency to probe the murder in the backdrop of the destruction of material objects and evidence in the case, even as the appeal was pending.
The victim, a B.Pharmacy student, was found murdered in her hostel in Ibrahimpatnam on the fringes of Vijayawada in AP in December of 2007.
Youth acquitted
While the trial court held a youth Satyam Babu guilty in the case, the HC acquitted him of the charge in 2017. Her parents moved the HC by filing a PIL seeking re-investigation into the murder. The HC directed for constitution of a Special Investigation Team to re-investigate the homicide case.
With the petitioner’s counsel Suresh Kumar informing the bench that certain material objects and evidence in the case were destroyed even as the appeal on the acquittal of the accused was pending, the HC, taking a serious note of the matter, directed its Registrar General to probe into the issue. On Monday, the RG presented his report in a sealed cover to the bench. The bench said it would thoroughly study the report before taking a call on handing over the case to the CBI. The matter would be heard again after two weeks.
