Kochi, Feb 6 (IANS): The Kerala High Court on Thursday reserved its orders on the appeal moved by deceased ADM Naveen Babu's wife against a single-judge bench's refusal to order a CBI probe into her husband's death.

Naveen Babu was found hanging at his official residence on October 15, 2024, a day after being accused of corruption in public by a local woman CPI-M leader.

The single judge's bench had dismissed her petition on January 6 and the official's wife, K. Manjusha announced plans to appeal against the decision.

On Thursday, a division bench of Justices P.B.Suresh Kumar and Jobin Sebastian asked the appellant if they were alleging any kind of malice against the SIT which is investigating the matter now as it opined that they had not made out sufficient reasons for ordering a CBI probe.

But Manjusha’s counsel stated that Babu's family was seeking a fair investigation and expressed a lack of trust in the present probe. They even held that even a Crime Branch probe is also good, as they have no faith in the present SIT.

The Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government, which had initially pledged support to Naveen Babu’s family, opposed the demand for a CBI probe during court proceedings.

Babu, a reputed and upright officer, was found dead a day after his official farewell in Kannur. The controversy began when CPI-M's Kannur District Panchayat President P.P. Divya came to the event uninvited and accused him of corruption.

Divya’s corruption allegations against Babu stemmed from a delay in issuing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for a petrol pump application by T.V. Prasanth, an electrician at the Kannur Medical College. Notably, Prasanth was reportedly a colleague of Divya’s husband, raising suspicions about personal motives behind the accusations.

The family alleged that Divya’s remarks were politically motivated and caused immense distress to Babu.

Divya, who was later arrested and briefly jailed in connection with the case, resigned from her position amidst mounting criticism.

The counsel of Manjusha argued that Divya, who is accused of abetting Babu's death, is closely connected with the ruling party and alleged that the investigation might not be impartial. Even after raising suspicion of homicide, the SIT has not investigated this aspect.

The counsel further demanded that the court must seek for report from the present investigation agency regarding their investigation into the homicidal hanging besides the call records of Divya and the District Collector of Kannur must be preserved to find out the larger conspiracy behind Naveen Babu's death.

The family of the official was unhappy ever since the suicide report came out and the way the police went about its probe. The counsel argued that the inquest and post-mortem were conducted hastily, without the family's presence. It was also pointed out that forceful ligature marks were found on Babu’s neck, requiring scientific examination.