Kerala HC Division Bench dismisses Kannur ADM Naveen Babu’s wife’s plea for CBI probe into his death

Kerala High Court dismisses appeal for CBI probe into former ADM's death, citing flaws in SIT investigation.

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday (March 3, 2025) dismissed an appeal filed by Manjusha, wife of K. Naveen Babu, a former Kannur Additional District Magistrate (ADM), against a single judge’s order dismissing her plea for a CBI probe into the death of her husband.

In her appeal, she said that her plea was refused by the single judge without taking into account the apparent flaws and discrepancies in the present investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). She had submitted that the investigation by the SIT might not be impartial as the accused, former Kannur district panchayat president P.P. Divya, was “a very influential and prominent leader” of a ruling party.

The SIT had already concluded that it was a case of suicide and had failed to investigate the angle of homicidal hanging.

She argued that the investigating agency filed an affidavit stating that the investigation was going on while it said in other part of the affidavit that it was a case of suicide.

According to her, medical examinations of blood stains on clothes and viscera are not being investigated properly. It was submitted that even before the post-mortem examination was completed, police officers prematurely labelled it as a case of suicide, seemingly in an effort to save the accused.

Naveen Babu was found dead at his residence in Kannur on October 15, 2024. The police suspected that he committed suicide following public humiliation and allegations of corruption levelled against him by Ms. Divya, at his farewell event on October 14. The SIT later arrested Ms. Divya and she was released on bail on November 8.