SC may order CBI probe if Andhra Pradesh HC declines to do so in Saikrishna custodial death case
The Supreme Court has indicated that it may pass appropriate orders for a CBI investigation into the death of Gade Saikrishna in alleged police custody if the Andhra Pradesh High Court does not order such a probe.
The apex court on Thursday decided to await the High Court’s decision, which has already been reserved in a habeas corpus petition concerning the case. The High Court is also considering a plea relating to entrusting the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During the hearing, the Supreme Court was informed that a related matter involving an NGO was also pending before the Andhra Pradesh High Court. After taking note of the proceedings before the High Court, the apex court adjourned the Saikrishna matter for four weeks and directed that it be listed on October 26, 2026.
The proceedings also saw the Supreme Court seek the complete records in the Nagaraj case and other connected matters pending before the High Court. The apex court directed that the records be transmitted to it and that the matters be registered as Transfer Cases in accordance with law.
Given the nature of the proceedings, the court further directed that notices be issued to the Director General of Police, the Commissioner of Police and the concerned Assistant Commissioner of Police, calling for their responses and records.
The Supreme Court also ordered the CBI to be impleaded as a respondent in the connected proceedings. Those matters have been listed for October 12, 2026, with the respondents directed to file their counter-affidavits in the meantime.
Jagan alleges police accountability
Reacting to the Supreme Court proceedings, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy described them as “yet another slap in the face of the Chandrababu Naidu government.”
Jagan alleged that Saikrishna was apprehended by the Task Force, taken into police custody and subsequently died at a police station in Vijayawada. He further alleged that Saikrishna’s body later went missing.
“Saikrishna’s mother repeatedly approached the Police Commissioner and the DGP, but her complaints were ignored,” Jagan alleged, while demanding answers from the state government over the circumstances surrounding Saikrishna’s death and the whereabouts of his body.
Jagan also argued that responsibility should not be confined to lower-level police personnel, pointing to the jurisdiction of senior police officers over the Task Force and the police station concerned.
“This cannot be dismissed as the wrongdoing of a few lower-level officials. The chain of command goes directly to senior police officers. The DGP and Police Commissioner must be held accountable,” he said.
He further demanded an impartial CBI investigation into the circumstances of Saikrishna’s death and the alleged disappearance of his body.
The Supreme Court’s latest order comes as the Andhra Pradesh High Court considers whether the investigation should be transferred to the CBI. The apex court’s indication that it may intervene if the High Court does not issue such a direction keeps the possibility of a central investigation open.
