Dr Vandana Das Murder Case: Kerala HC denies bail to accused, dismisses plea for CBI probe

Kochi: Noting that no specific reasons were pointed out to doubt the integrity or credibility of the investigation, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking a transfer of probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the brutal killing of Dr Vandana Das by a patient at a taluk hospital in Kollam district in May last year.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas rejected the plea moved by the deceased’s father alleging that the police, “In a haste to wash their hands clean”, had fabricated the First Information Statement. 

The court said that the parents of the deceased doctor in their plea did not point out allegations of any criminal intent or act committed by any of the police officers involved in the case and only alleged an act of cowardice by the police which is not a serious reason for the case to be transferred to the CBI.

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“No serious flaws could be pointed out by the petitioners in the manner in which the investigation was conducted, except for certain omissions on the part of the police who had accompanied Sandeep to the hospital. There is no allegation of any direct involvement of any of the police officers in the crime. 

No criminal intent is attributed to the police for their omission to protect the public from the attacks of the accused. The petitioners also do not have a case that any of those police officers had any motive or criminal intent or that they had allegedly withdrawn themselves from the scene of occurrence with criminal intent,” said the court.

Further, it observed, “The allegations in the instant case do not strictly point out the involvement of any police personnel in the crime. Moreover, the disciplinary proceedings against them (police personnel who accompanied Sandeep to the hospital) are admittedly pending. Since the petitioners were not able to point out any specific reasons to doubt the integrity or credibility of the investigation, this Court finds no reason to interfere with the investigation already conducted or to transfer the probe to CBI. Accordingly, there is no merit in this writ petition. Hence, it is dismissed."

Relying upon Apex Court decisions, the Court observed that an investigation could be handed over to an independent agency when accusations were directed against the local police or for the satisfaction of the family of the deceased person. 

It thus stated that the investigation could be handed over to CBI when the police were under a scanner of doubt and fingers were pointed at them. It stated that this was not an inflexible rule and would depend upon the circumstances involved in each case to decide whether a CBI investigation was warranted or not, Live Law reports.

It stated that omission on the part of the police should be coupled with criminal intent to impute criminality to the police which was lacking in the present case.

“There is no allegation even that the police who brought Sandeep to the hospital had any criminal intent by allegedly fleeing away from the scene of occurrence. An error in the judgment in mistaking the gravity of acts of the accused are not reasons to assume complicity in the crime”, observed the Court.

The doctor’s father — K G Mohandas — in his plea had alleged that the Kottarakkara police in a haste to wash their hands clean had fabricated the First Information Statement allegedly given by the friend of the deceased which was obtained intercepting him midway to the hospital while taking her for treatment, PTI reports.

The petition had also said that the police to “hide their security lapses” had been investigating the crime with a very “lackadaisical and apathetic approach.” 

The case pertains to the brutal murder of Dr Vandana Das, a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents, who was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.

Sandeep, who was brought there by the police for medical treatment during the early hours of April 10, went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.

He had initially attacked the police officers and a private person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young doctor who could not escape to safety.

She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.

The high court also dismissed the bail plea of the accused, citing the “heinous” nature of the crime committed by him, and said it could not ignore the prosecution’s assertion that the accused would be a threat to society if released.

Pointing to the seriousness of the crime, Justice Bechu Kurian noted that the accused “sat beside her (victim) and continued to stab her, despite the hapless victim falling to the ground”.

The court also took note that the accused — G Sandeep — is known to have had a history of alcohol use disorder and is separated from his wife and children “as he had attempted to kill her in a fit of rage”.

“He is stated to have an antisocial personality disorder, too. Additional Director General of Prosecution had submitted that steps are being taken to appoint a Special Public Prosecutor and also to have a speedy trial.

“Therefore undue delay in completing the trial also may not occur. Taking note of all the above circumstances, this is not a fit case where the petitioner can be released on bail. Hence this bail application is dismissed,” the court said.

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