Kochi, Feb 11 (IANS): The Kerala High Court on Tuesday re-heard 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.

After the hearing, the court directed the police probe team to hand over the case investigation diary and reserved the orders.

Confusion arose on February 6, when the same petition came up before the division bench of the High Court after the hearing and the orders were reserved, but Manjusha, the wife of Babu and their family were unhappy as their counsel requested either a CBI probe or a Crime Branch investigation by the Kerala Police.

Soon after that, the family of Babu decided to bring in a new counsel and approached the High Court for a re-hearing.

The new counsel claimed that the ongoing police probe was not going in the right direction as they were not investigating the angle of homicidal hanging, and called it "prejudiced" as they have concluded that it was a case of suicide.

Manjusha's new counsel also argued that the presence of blood stains on Babu's clothes was not properly probed, and hence for the truth to come out, an external agency like the CBI must probe the case.

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.

On January 6, the single judge's bench dismissed her petition, following which she filed the appeal petition.

The Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government, which 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 post amid mounting criticism.