IB officer's death: Plea seeks probe into leak of case materials

Kochi: The Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer who is the sole accused in a case related to the death of a female colleague, has approached high court seeking a probe into the alleged leak of case materials, including WhatsApp chat details, by the police.

The petition will be considered by the court on the next day. In it, he has sought a direction to call for a report from the station house officer (SHO) of Pettah police station, Thiruvananthapuram, regarding the alleged leakage of case materials, and an order directing the superior officer of the SHO to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

In his petition, the accused alleged that after HC reserved orders on his pre-arrest bail plea on May 23, media outlets, including television news channels, began publishing alleged WhatsApp chats between him and the deceased. He claimed that the police deliberately leaked the details, calling it a gross abuse of investigative powers, orchestrated with the intent to provoke public outrage, prejudice judicial proceedings and damage his reputation.

He further contended that the publication of selected investigation materials through the media amounts to a direct intrusion into the justice delivery system and constitutes a parallel ‘media trial.' The accused officer also submitted that the alleged conduct of the police violates Section 31 of the Kerala Police Act, Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 193 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

He filed the petition in connection with his pre-arrest bail plea, which was dismissed on Monday. While dismissing the bail plea, the court expressed displeasure over the alleged leak of investigation materials.