In Abhaya case,CBI says a judge,now in SC,saw narco CDs

A SC judge visited the Forensic Science Lab in Bangalore and saw video recordings of narcoanalysis tests carried out on the accused priests and the nun.

The CBI informed the Kerala High Court today that a former Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court,who is currently a Supreme Court judge,had visited the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Bangalore and seen video recordings of narcoanalysis tests carried out on two priests and a nun accused in the Sister Abhaya murder case.

CBI special prosecutor S Sreekumar made the statement during the hearing of a contempt of court petition filed against the agency by Abhayas father Aikkarakunnel Thomas,who said the CBI had failed to retrieve the original CDs of the narco tests as directed by the High Court while granting bail to the accused.

Sreekumar quoted the deposition of Dr S Malini,a former assistant director of FSL,to reveal the judges visit to the laboratory.

Acting on the directive of the court to retrieve the original CDs,the CBI had questioned Dr Malini to ascertain the authenticity of the CDs furnished by FSL.

Dr Malini had denied allegations that the CDs had been tampered with. To buttress her argument that the CDs had not been edited,Malini had said that a senior judge had viewed them,evaluated the process of the narco-analysis test,and concluded there had been no wrongdoing.

After recording her statement,the CBI too had reached the conclusion that the CDs had not been tampered with,and had filed a report in the court accordingly.

When the contempt case came up today,the CBI quoted Dr Malinis statement on the judges visit to FSL to substantiate its stand that the CDs had not been edited.

Story continues below this ad

The High Court bench of Justice R Balakrishnan Nair and Justice C K Ravi Kumar asked the CBI to file a detailed affidavit on the issue and related matters,and posted the hearing for August 18.

The body of Sister Abhaya,an inmate of St Pius Convent,Kottayam,was found in the well on the convent premises in March 1992. Last month,the CBI filed chargesheets against Father Thomas Kottoor,Father Jose Puthrikayil and Sister Sephy in connection with the case.

Reacting to CBIs statement in the court,X L Varghese,counsel for Abhayas father,said a probe should be held into the judges alleged visit to the lab.

On the other hand,C P Udayabhanu,counsel for the second accused,said the CBI had dragged the judge into the issue only to gain mileage in the media. If the CBI was hinting that the evidence or investigation had been affected in any manner by the judges visit,it should have said so in its chargesheet,Udayabhanu said.