Transfer of investigation after charge sheet requires exceptional grounds; mere apprehension is insufficient to justify CBI intervention.

Transfer of investigation to the CBI after filing of a charge sheet is not granted as a routine measure and is confined to exceptional cases. The governing principle is that such transfer may be justified only where the existing investigation is demonstrably biased, inadequate, not proceeding in the proper direction, or where involvement of powerful persons or police officials creates a genuine apprehension that a fair and credible investigation cannot otherwise be secured. On the stated facts, the request was based only on apprehension; no mala fides, bias, or other material requiring entrustment to an independent agency was shown, so transfer was declined.

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Issues: Whether, after filing of a charge sheet, the investigation into the alleged cheating and the circumstances surrounding the death could be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Analysis: A post-charge-sheet transfer of investigation is not to be ordered as a matter of course. Such a course is reserved for exceptional cases where the existing investigation is shown to be biased, inadequate, or not proceeding in the proper direction, or where involvement of powerful persons or police officials creates a genuine apprehension that a fair and credible investigation cannot otherwise be secured. On the facts, the petition rested on apprehension alone. The local investigation had already resulted in filing of a charge sheet against several accused, no mala fides or bias was shown against the investigating agencies, and no material established that the matter required entrustment to an independent agency to secure complete justice.

Conclusion: The request for transfer of investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation was not warranted and was rejected.

Final Conclusion: Interference was declined because the case did not disclose the exceptional circumstances necessary for transferring an ongoing investigation after filing of the charge sheet.

Ratio Decidendi: Transfer of investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation after a charge sheet has been filed is justified only in exceptional cases where the existing investigation is demonstrably unfair, biased, or inadequate, or where circumstances require such transfer to secure complete justice.

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