CBI investigation transfer requires exceptional circumstances; disputed facts should ordinarily be resolved in the criminal trial.

The extraordinary power to direct a CBI investigation is to be used sparingly and only in exceptional cases where intervention is necessary to secure a fair, credible investigation and the discovery of truth. Mere allegations of illegal abduction, a foisted criminal case, or partisan local police action are insufficient without material showing that the ordinary investigative process has failed or justice would be defeated. Disputed questions of fact should ordinarily be tested in the criminal trial through evidence and cross-examination. On the materials described, no exceptional circumstance or public importance justified CBI transfer, and the ongoing trial was allowed to continue.

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Issues: Whether the extraordinary power to direct a CBI investigation should be exercised on the basis of the allegations of illegal abduction, foisted criminal case, and alleged partisan investigation, and whether the pending criminal trial warranted quashing or discharge at this stage.

Analysis: The jurisdiction to transfer an investigation to the CBI is extraordinary and must be exercised sparingly, only in exceptional situations where the facts disclose a real need to secure a fair and credible investigation. Mere allegations against the local police, without material showing that the normal investigative process has failed or that justice would otherwise be defeated, do not justify such a direction. The disputes raised by the appellants were found to be seriously contested questions of fact that belonged to the criminal trial, where evidence could be led, witnesses could be examined and cross-examined, and the accused could place his defence under the procedural safeguards available in the trial court. The materials on record did not disclose any public importance or exceptional circumstance requiring CBI intervention, and the pending trial had progressed.

Conclusion: The request for transfer of investigation to the CBI was declined, and the challenges seeking interference with the ongoing criminal process were not accepted.

Final Conclusion: The impugned orders were upheld and the appeals were dismissed, leaving the parties to pursue their remedies in the pending criminal proceedings.

Ratio Decidendi: A direction for CBI investigation can be issued only in exceptional cases where the Court is satisfied that such intervention is necessary to secure a fair and credible investigation and the discovery of truth.

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