Can probe be transferred to CBI after chargesheet is filed? Supreme Court answers

The Supreme Court recently observed that transfer of probe in case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cannot be refused only because the chargesheet in the case has already been filed [Ranoo Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others]..A division bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta ruled that the prayer for transfer of investigation to an independent agency cannot be rejected solely on the ground that chargesheet has been filed in the case. "When serious allegations have been made by the appellant(s), the High Court should at least have assigned reasons in brief as to why the grounds prayed for transfer were not found to be sufficient," the Court observed in its order of April 2. .The order was passed in a case involving one Dhananajay Singh, former Member of Parliament (MP) accused of murdering CBI witness Ajit Singh in police custody. Ajit Singh was shot dead in Lucknow in broad daylight.During investigation, the involvement of several persons had come to light including that of Singh. The Police had announced reward of ₹25,000 against Dhananjay Singh. He was also declared a proclaimed absconder but on the eve of notification for Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election, the investigation was transferred to a Special Task Force (STF).The present appellant, who is the wife of Ajit Singh, alleged that STF did not investigate Dhananajay Singh properly and submitted chargesheet against him in trivial offences carrying maximum punishment of 3 years. She then approached the Allahabad High Court seeking transfer of probe to CBI.The High Court rejected the petition on the ground that since the chargesheet has already been filed, no ground was made out for transfer of investigation to another agency.Aggrieved, the appellant preferred the present appeal before the apex court..The Supreme Court said that the High Court ought to have assigned reasons in brief as to why the prayer for transfer of probe to CBI was not warranted. Since the same was not done, the top court deemed it fit to set aside the order of the High Court and remand the matter back to the High Court for fresh consideration."We request the High Court to decide the petitions as expeditiously as possible and in any case within a period of six months from today. We clarify that we have not considered the merits of the matters and the impugned judgments and orders have been quashed and set aside only on the aforesaid grounds," the Court ordered while disposing of the appeal..Senior Advocates R Basant and Sudhir Kumar Saxena, Advocate-On-Record Aviral Saxena, and advocates Lokesh Kumar Choudhary, Piyush Thanvi, Akshay Sahay and Shrwani appeared for the appellant.Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad and advocates Shaurya Sahay, Mukesh Kumar Karoria, Shobhit Dwivedi, Shristi Mishra, Vatsal Joshi, Aniruddh Sharma-ii, Praneet Pranav and Shivank Pratap Singh appeared for the respondents..[Read Order]