Latest news with #Himachal-cadre
Hans India
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
HC hands over Himachal Chief Engineer's death case to CBI
Shimla: In a setback to the state's Congress government, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Friday transferred the investigation into the death of Himachal Pradesh Power Corp Ltd (HPPCL) Chief Engineer-cum-General Manager Vimal Negi from the state police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Pronouncing the order, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel directed the CBI to take over the probe from the police's special investigation team (SIT), led by Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Gandhi and directed that no state-cadre officer should be attached with the CBI team for a fair investigation. Negi went missing on March 10, and his body was recovered from the Bhakra Dam in Bilaspur eight days later. His family had been demanding a CBI inquiry, but the state government did not accept their plea. The victim's wife, Kiran Negi, moved the high court to demand a CBI probe. However, the government had constituted a Special Investigating Team (SIT) after registering a case of abetment to suicide against top HPPCL functionaries, comprising HPPCL Managing Director Harikesh Meena, Director (Personnel) Shivam Pratap and Director (Electrical) Desh Raj. Petitioner's counsel R.K. Bawa said: 'Kiran Negi was not satisfied with the SIT's probe from day one. Accepting our plea, the court has directed that no Himachal-cadre officer will be part of the CBI investigation. The government failed to act on the report of Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Onkar Chand (Sharma), in which he indicted officers accused by the family of misbehaviour. The government withheld his report.' 'The SIT was biased and only looked into the medical history of the victim,' he told the media.
New Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Himachal Pradesh HC transfers the probe into the death of HPPCL chief engineer Vimal Negi to CBI
CHANDIGARH: In a setback to the Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government, the State High Court on Friday handed over the probe into the mysterious death of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited chief engineer Vimal Negi to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). His body was found in Gobind Sagar Lake on March 18. A single bench of the High Court, led by Justice Ajay Goyal, on Wednesday accepted a petition by Vimal Negi's wife, Kiran Negi, and ordered the transfer of the probe from the Himachal Police SIT, headed by Shimla SP Sanjeev Gandhi, to the CBI. R K Bawa, the advocate for the petitioner, said the court accepted the family's plea that the state police was not conducting a fair investigation and directed that no Himachal Pradesh officer be involved in the probe. "From day 1, Kiran was not satisfied with the probe by the SIT. Accepting our plea, the court has directed that no Himachal-cadre officer will be part of the CBI investigation. The government failed to act on the report of the additional chief secretary (Home and Revenue), Onkar Chand, in which he indicted officers accused by the family of misbehaviour. The government withheld his report. The SIT was biased and only looked into the medical history of the victim," the counsel stated.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Himachal Pradesh high court transfers Vimal Negi death case to CBI
In a setback to the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government, the high court on Friday transferred the probe into the recent death of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) chief engineer-cum-general manager Vimal Negi from the state police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Pronouncing the order, the Himachal Pradesh high court bench of Ajay Mohan Goel directed the CBI to take over the probe from the state police's special investigation team (SIT), led by Shimla SP Sanjeev Gandhi. The high court ordered that no HP-cadre officer should be attached with the CBI team for a fair investigation. A detailed copy of the judgement is awaited. Negi went missing on March 10 and his body was recovered from Bhakra Dam in Bilaspur on March 18. His family members sat on a dharna outside the HPPCL office in Shimla with his body the next day, demanding a CBI inquiry but the state government remained adamant on not accepting their plea. Kiran Negi, the deceased's wife, moved the high court seeking the CBI probe. The SIT was constituted after the case of abetment to suicide was registered on March 22 in Shimla on Kiran Negi's complaint that top HPPCL officials, including director (electrical) Desh Raj, had been harassing her husband. The petitioner's advocate, RK Bawa, said, 'Kiran was not satisfied with the SIT's probe from Day 1. Accepting our plea, the court has directed that no Himachal-cadre officer will be part of the CBI investigation. The government failed to act on additional chief secretary, home, Onkar Chand's report in which he indicted officers accused by the family of misbehaviour. The government withheld his report,' Bawa said. 'The SIT was biased and only looked into the medical history of the victim,' he added. Reacting to the order, state advocate general Anup Rattan, said: 'We are not averse to investigation by any party. The probe being carried out by our state police officials was fair and transparent. Our goal is justice. We won't be filing an appeal (against the order)'. The high court order came two days after state director general of police Atul Verma raised questions about the SIT's impartiality in probing Vimal Negi's death. The DGP said that a pen drive was recovered from Vimal Negi's pocket on March 18, but was hidden by an assistant sub inspector of police and even formatted. In his status report, the DGP said: 'This is a serious misconduct on the part of the SIT as a pen drive, presumably found on the body of the deceased, containing crucial evidence has been tampered with or destroyed after recovery.' 'It can be safely concluded that it has been a questionable investigation till now and influence/attempted influence of the Shimla SP, who has been posted for more than two years in this posts, seems to have extended beyond his domain,' the DGP said in an affidavit filed in the court as part of the status report that was made public on Wednesday.
