The Supreme Court has set the date of hearing of the Itishree Pradhan murder case on February 12. Itishree, a woman teacher of Tikiri Upper Primary School in Rayagada district, was burnt and she died on November 1 last.
Acting on a PIl seeking a CBI probe into the case, a division bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice P Sadasivam and Justice Ranjan Desai fixed the date of hearing.
Placing his argument, petitioner’s counsel Suresh Chandra Tripathy, while submitting the letter of the National Commission for Women (NCW) to the State Government recommending a CBI probe and a letter written by the deceased teacher to the Chief Minister on August 5 last, prayed the court to order for a CBI probe at the earliest. He said the affidavit filed by the State Government in the matter lacks veracity and is unacceptable. “The State Government has not furnished specific replies to the questions relating to the case,” Tripathy contended.
State Government’s counsel Gopal Subramanyam told the court that proper investigation is being made into the case by the State Crime Branch which would file the chargesheet in a month, and so there is no need for a CBI inquiry.