The Supreme Court on Friday disposed of a petition filed by Umadevi Kalburgi, wife of late activist and Kannada writer MM Kalburgi, for a fair probe into his murder in 2015.
A Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman closed the petition after it was apprised of the fact that a charge sheet was filed in the case.
In February last, the court transferred the Kalburgi investigation to the same special investigation team (SIT) probing the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh . It also directed the Dharwad Bench of the Karnataka High Court to monitor the SIT investigation. The Kalburgi death was earlier investigated by the Karnataka CID.
Initially, the apex court contemplated having the Bombay High Court monitor the Kalburgi case along with the investigation into the murders of activists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare. A line of argument had been raised before the Supreme Court that all the four cases were inter-linked.
Umadevi had also sought a comprehensive, fair and coordinated probe into the brutal deaths of Gauri Lankesh, Dabholkar and Pansare.
Lankesh was shot dead in broad daylight in front of her Bengaluru residence on September 5, 2017. A Kendriya Sahitya Akademi awardee and anti-superstition activist, Kalburgi, was shot dead at his Bengaluru residence on August 30, 2015.
Umadevi believes the very same shooters behind the murders of Pansare on February 16, 2015 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra and Dr. Narendra Dabholkar on August 20, 2013 in Pune were behind her husband’s murder.
