HC orders CBI probe in CMO murders

A fortnight after ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry in Deputy Chief Medical Officer Y S Sachan death case, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday asked the agency to probe the killing of two of his seniors, observing that the murders may have been carried out to put a curtain on the Uttar Pradesh health department scam.

While also directing the CBI to probe the alleged irregularities in National Rural Health Mission, a Lucknow bench comprising justices Pradeep Kant and Ritu Raj Awasthi set a three-month deadline for the completion of the inquiry.

The order came a week after the Mayawati government had recommended a CBI probe into the murders of the CMOs V K Arya and B P Singh and the health department scam of which the murders were alleged to be a fallout.

The bench said that it also cannot be ruled out at this stage that the death of Sachan in judicial custody was not the result of the same series of murders having been planned and carried out to put a curtain on the financial irregularities committed in implementing the NRHM programme.

The court said the police investigation and the submission of charge sheets cannot prohibit the CBI from launching fresh investigations.

"Once this court has already entrusted the investigation in the case of Dr Sachan to the CBI, an order, we are told, has been approved by the apex court in a writ petition filed by Dr Malti Sachan under Article 32 of the Constitution," it said.