New Delhi, October 19
The mysterious death of Ashutosh Asthana — the key accused in the multi-crore PF scam, allegedly involving judges — today figured in the Supreme Court which asked CBI to spell out its stand on a plea for preserving the body for a second post-mortem.
A bench headed by Justice DK Jain asked Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaisingh to seek necessary instructions from CBI and report back to it tommorow by 10.30 am.
The apex court agreed to take up the application moved by Nahar Singh Yadav, Secretary of Ghaziabad District Bar Association, seeking a second post-mortem and probe by a special investigation team into the circumstances under which Asthana died in his cell at Dasana District Jail, Ghaziabad, on Saturday. The first post-mortem report failed to determine the probable cause of Asthana’s death.
The SC will tomorrow hear a plea for an independent inquiry into Asthana’s custodial death. Senior counsel Anil Divan mentioned the matter before two benches, one headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and another by Justice DK Jain, seeking an early hearing of an application on the issue.
Divan also sought a direction for a thorough post-mortem of Asthana’s body if it had not yet been cremated. However, according to some media reports, the cremation had already taken place, he said.
Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaisingh told the Bench, comprising Justices Jain and HL Dattu, that Attorney General GE Vahanvati was also interested in a proper inquiry. However, she pleaded ignorance on whether cremation was over.
Earlier in the morning, the matter was mentioned before the CJI Bench, which included Justice BS Chauhan, seeking an urgent hearing. The court, however, suggested it should be heard by the Bench, which was already hearing the Ghaziabad PF scam case. Justice Jain said the court would hear the matter as the first thing tomorrow. Divan wondered as to how had the CBI, which is probing the scam, allowed the cremation without seeking the apex court's permission.
