Supreme Court shifts trial of Kanpur businessman death case to CBI court in Delhi

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the transfer of trial in the death of a Kanpur-based businessman, in a police raid at a Gorakhpur hotel, from Uttar Pradesh to a CBI court in Delhi.

A bench comprising justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna after hearing arguments from an advocate, representing the wife of the deceased, ordered the trial to be moved out of Uttar Pradesh to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court.

The plea, filed through advocate Anand Shankar, said: "It is of significance that shockingly the immediate reaction of the local police was to shield the perpetrators and to try and pass-off the murder as an accident and the same is apparent from the fact that police deliberately did not secure the crime scene and did not make any attempt to protect the evidence at the crime scene."

The plea also cited the delay in the registration of the FIR - almost 48 hours after the incident occurred on September 27.

The plea contended that the petitioner was even pressured to not mention any name of police officers and further dissuaded by high officials of the local administration and the police from taking legal recourse.

According to news reports, Manish Gupta -- the businessman, allegedly died after being assaulted by six police officers at Krishna Palace hotel in Gorakhpur where he was staying along with his two friends.

The plea said: "On September 27, certain police officials from the Police Station, namely the Station Officer Jagat Narayan Singh, sub-inspectors Akshay Mishra, Vijay Yadav and Rahul Dubey, head constable Kamlesh Yadav and constable Prashant Kumar arrived at the hotel in the late hours of the night. In a shocking display of high-handedness and police brutality, they proceeded to viciously assault the petitioner's husband, leading to his death."