NO faith in CBI, high time it was shut down: HC

The Rajasthan high court today came down heavily on the Central Bureau of Investigation for giving "differential" treatment to the accused in Dara Singh fake encounter killing case in which a Director General of police and a Bharatiya Janata Party member of Legislative Assembly were among those arrested, saying the agency's objectives have been compromised and it was high time it was "shut down".

"It appears that accused in the same case are being given differential treatment by the CBI.

"You people salute an accused, offer him tea and coffee and land him behind the bars facilitating his judicial custody whereas the same the CBI gets police custody of other accused persons for the maximum time period in the same case," said Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma.

"The aims and objectives with which the CBI was established have been compromised and CBI is proving counterproductive to these objects and its high time when the agency needs to be shut down," the court observed.

The stinging remarks by the bench came on a petition filed by a head constable, Jagram, who was allegedly part of the police team that killed a liquor mafia member of Churu Dara Singh in October 2006. The cop, who has been been in jail for 11 months, accused CBI of delaying the trial and sought speedy justice.

Thirteen people have been arrested in the case so far. A K Jain, the then DGP (Crime), who surrendered before the court in the case, was remanded in custody for 13 days.

It was contended by Ajay Kumar Jain, counsel for Jagram, that the special public prosecutor S K Saxena appointed by the CBI resides in Delhi and the CBI court is  adjusting dates of trial as per the availability of the CBI lawyer.

He claimed only non-material witnesses are being summoned by CBI and his prayer to call material witness was rejected by the CBI court judge.

"This is travesty of justice," the court said.