Probe Into Activist Narendra Dabholkar's Murder Over, CBI Tells Court

 The CBI filed a closure report on Monday, telling the Bombay High Court that their investigation into the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was over.

The Bombay High Court had asked the CBI to inform within three weeks whether the investigation into Dabholkar's murder had been completed. The closure report was filed on Monday.

A bench of Justices Ajay S Gadkari and Prakash D Naik gave three weeks' time to the Central Bureau of Investigation to inform the court so that it could decide whether to continue with the trial.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Mukta Dabholkar, daughter of Narendra Dabholkar, seeking a continuation of the Bombay High Court's monitoring of the case.

Dabholkar, 67, was shot dead in August 2013 in Pune. The Pune Police initially probed the murder but the case was handed over to the CBI in 2014 following a court order.

The CBI told the court that it had completed the investigation into the murder of Dabholkar and the investigating officer had submitted the closure report to the competent authority.

On behalf of Mukta Dabholkar, her lawyer told the court that the CBI had not investigated the case properly and there were still many lapses.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet against five accused persons in the case. The court, earlier this month, asked the central agency to apprise it of the status of its investigation in the case.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, told the court that as far as the CBI is concerned, the investigation has been conducted and is now complete. Out of 32 witnesses, 15 have been cross-examined, he informed the court.

The court then asked the CBI whether further surveillance was required. To this, advocate Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, submitted that no further investigation was needed as the investigating officer had filed a report and it was pending before the competent authority.

The court then asked the CBI to decide how much time would it take to decide. To this, Singh sought three weeks' time for the CBI to take a final decision on the matter.

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