The Supreme Court today i.e., November 28, 2018, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the probe into allegations of physical and sexual abuse of inmates at 16 shelter homes in Bihar.
A Bench comprising of Justices Madan B. Lokur, S. Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta took the decision after noting that state police investigation was not up to the mark.
The apex court said the report of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) raises grave concern about 17 shelter homes in Bihar and CBI must look into all of them.
While the agency is already investigating Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case, the Court transferred the investigation in the rest of the shelter homes as well.
At the outset of proceedings, the counsel appearing for the CBI told the Court that it may not be empowered to initiate a new investigation considering the restraint put by the apex court on the acting director from taking any policy decision.
However, the Bench was not convinced and said that conducting investigation has nothing to do with policy matter. Thereafter, taking instructions, the agency told the Bench, that in principle, it was ready to take over the investigation.
The Court will hear the case next on December 12, 2018.
