B.K. Bansal, his wife, son and daughter committed suicide two years ago alleging harassment & torture by CBI officers but Delhi Police is yet to register a case.
New Delhi: For over two years, relatives of B.K. Bansal, a former director general in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, did the rounds of the power centres in New Delhi to get a criminal case registered against officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Now, they say they’ve given up.
Bansal, embroiled in a bribery case being investigated by the agency, and his son Yogesh were found hanging in their East Delhi Madhu Vihar flat in September 2016, two months after his wife Satyabala and daughter Neha had allegedly committed suicide there.
In a detailed suicide note, Bansal had alleged that his family had been harassed and tortured by five CBI officials — DIG Sanjeev Gautam, SP Amrita Kaur, DSP Rekha Sangwan, investigating officer Harnam Singh, and an unnamed head constable.
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The Delhi Police, however, did not lodge an FIR on abetment to suicide against the CBI officers, did not carry out a detailed inquiry, while the CBI limited its probe to an “internal inquiry” that led to the transfer of two officers to their parent cadre.
In October 2016, the CBI gave a clean chit to all of its officers saying they never interrogated Bansal’s family and did not torture them.
Bansal’s relatives now say that they’ve given up on pursuing the case, considering the inaction and “how close the top CBI officers are to the current government”.
“We are very scared. We are small people and are not equipped to fight these powerful men,” said a relative who runs a grocery store in Haryana.
“We do not want to take up this fight because we know we are the ones who will suffer in the process. Nothing will happen to these men in the CBI. In fact, if these officers are even transferred, it will lead to further hostility against us.”
The Delhi Police said it has conducted inquest proceedings. “We have completed the inquest proceedings and have submitted the report to the concerned SDM,” a senior police officer said.
The case against Bansal
Bansal was arrested by the CBI on 16 July 2016, on charges of accepting a Rs 20-lakh bribe from a Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company. The company had allegedly duped 24,000 investors of Rs 176 crore through a fraudulent investment scheme.
Bansal had denied the allegations.
A week after his arrest, on 22 July, Bansal’s wife Satyabala and daughter Neha killed themselves in their East Delhi apartment. Two months later, on 27 September, Bansal and his son, Yogesh, too were found hanging in their house.
In a detailed suicide note, Bansal and his son Yogesh alleged that their family was mentally and physically tortured and threatened by CBI officers, who allegedly boasted about their links to a senior politician in the current government.
Delhi Police under Alok Verma did not act
Bansal’s relatives allege that the Delhi Police, then headed by current CBI chief Alok Verma, shunned them every time they sought an update on the status of their complaint against the CBI officers.
“Whenever we went to seek an update on our complaint or status of the matter, the Delhi Police would ask us to contact the CBI. When we went to them, they would not give us any answers,” a relative said. “The fact that the entire family committed suicide haunts us till date.”
The relative pointed out that legally, a case of abetment to suicide should be registered against those named in a suicide note.
“In cases such as that of MLA Gopal Kanda an arrest was made on the basis of the suicide note by Geetika Sharma (in the air hostess suicide case),” he said. “But in this case, despite a detailed suicide note naming the CBI officers, no case was made out.”
The relatives alleged that the Delhi Police did not lodge a case as it was acting at the behest of the CBI.
“The CBI did not want its officers to be investigated, so no case was registered by the Delhi Police,” a relative said.
He also slammed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
“Does this case not come under the NHRC’s ambit? What did they do about it apart from sending one notice? Nothing,” the relative said.
“Just because Bansal’s entire family was wiped out, the agencies must have thought that they have nothing to fear as there will not be any witnesses to pursue the case.”
No substantial action by CBI
Bansal’s relatives alleged that even the CBI stone-walled their requests for action and had absolved its officers of their role in the case
“DIG Sanjeev Gautam was removed from his post in the CBI and sent to his parent cadre in the customs department, where he is now holding a relevant position,” a relative said. “Is it really a punishment for driving four people to commit suicide? He continues to serve in the administration, while the rest are all still in the CBI.”
The relatives said they are not surprised by the current crisis in the apex investigating agency.
“It is one of the most corrupt agencies. They harassed, tortured and killed Bansal and his entire family, and still no one was suspended,” the relative said.
“We are not surprised to find out about all these allegations regarding the CBI. Only God knows how many people they (CBI) have made to suffer,” he added.
PIL in court
A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court by former bureaucrat E.A.S Sarma, seeking a court-monitored CBI probe into the alleged suicide of Bansal and his family.
A bench comprising then Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud issued a notice to the Centre in August 2018 seeking its reply in the matter in two weeks.
The Central government is yet to respond.
Colin Gonsalves, senior advocate appearing for the petitioner, said, “Our case is that an FIR must be registered immediately against anyone named in a dying declaration.”
Whatever the case against Shri Bansal, he could not have been awarded capital punishment. The death by suicide of his wife, son and daughter is truly tragic. A hard hearted, unfeeling state. The police refuse to file an FIR, the agency has more important things to do than respond to a notice from the apex court. Barring the inconvenience of seeking their votes once every five years, ordinary people may not as well exist.