By Jyotika Kalra
A former government official accused in a Rs 645-crore financial scam walks out on bail because the charge sheet was not filed within the statutory deadline. At the same time, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) finds itself probing a death case that, under ordinary circumstances, would have remained within the domain of local law enforcement.
The difference between the two cases is not necessarily complexity. It is visibility.
The Haryana bank scam, involving allegations of collusion between officials of IDFC First Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, and officers associated with the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB), concerns the alleged siphoning of government funds on a massive scale.
Yet, the special court granted default bail to one of the principal accused—not because the allegations were disproved, but because the CBI failed to file its charge sheet within the mandatory 90-day period prescribed under law.
The episode highlights a troubling reality: even in cases involving allegations of large-scale financial fraud and public money, investigative delays can produce significant legal consequences. It also raises a broader question about how investigative resources are allocated and whether public pressure is increasingly influencing those priorities.
THE COST OF INVESTIGATIVE OVERSTRETCH
The controversy surrounding the death of Twisha Sharma offers a striking example. The case, initially investigated as a dowry death, was eventually transferred to the CBI amid sustained media attention and public scrutiny. Every suspicious death deserves a fair, impartial, and thorough investigation. Yet, the circumstances surrounding the transfer raise important questions about the role of public narratives in determining which cases warrant the intervention of the country’s premier investigative agency.
Media coverage generated a powerful narrative that Twisha had been killed by her husband and mother-in-law over alleged dowry demands and that her body had been staged to resemble a suicide. The fact that the deceased’s mother-in-law was a retired district judge was cited as one of the reasons for seeking an independent investigation.
However, determining whether a death is homicidal or suicidal is fundamentally a forensic question, one that is directly linked to medical evidence and post-mortem findings. Significantly, even the second post-mortem examination conducted by AIIMS reportedly did not indicate evidence of homicide. The investigation continues to proceed on the premise of suicide while examining the surrounding circumstances.
This raises a legitimate institutional question: should the CBI be required to investigate every high-profile death that captures public attention, particularly when the central factual issue remains rooted in forensic findings?
The CBI already carries the burden of investigating complex corruption cases, economic offences, inter-state criminal networks, and matters involving significant public importance. Every additional transfer inevitably consumes finite manpower, expertise, and time. Allowing media narratives to determine investigative priorities is neither a sustainable nor an efficient model for criminal justice administration.
LESSONS FROM THE HARYANA SCAM
The Haryana bank scam demonstrates the consequences of an overstretched system.
Investigating a financial fraud of this magnitude requires painstaking examination of banking transactions, corporate structures, financial records, and multiple accused spread across institutions. Such cases demand specialized expertise and substantial time.
Yet, despite the seriousness of the allegations, the investigation could not be completed within the statutory timeline required to prevent default bail.
The lesson is not that accused persons should be denied their legal rights. Default bail is a vital safeguard against prolonged incarceration without completion of investigation. Rather, the concern is that delays in complex cases may become increasingly common if investigative agencies are continually required to divert resources towards matters transferred primarily because of public pressure.
When investigative bandwidth is finite, every reassignment carries consequences elsewhere.
A TALE OF UNEQUAL ATTENTION
The contrast becomes even more striking when viewed alongside the death of Aman Kumar Sharma, a young judicial officer whose case received comparatively limited public attention.
Reports surrounding the case suggested allegations of prolonged marital discord and mental harassment by his wife, herself a serving judicial officer. According to media accounts, Sharma’s father had allegedly witnessed a confrontation shortly before Sharma was later found hanging in a bathroom.
Despite the gravity of those allegations, the case did not trigger the same level of public outrage, sustained media campaigns, or widespread demands for a CBI investigation that were witnessed in the Twisha Sharma matter.
The comparison is not intended to equate the facts of two distinct cases. Rather, it highlights an uncomfortable reality: public attention is often selective. Media narratives can shape perceptions of victimhood, culpability, and institutional urgency long before investigations reach definitive conclusions.
The disparity prompts difficult but necessary questions about whether investigative priorities are being influenced by objective necessity or by the intensity of public discourse.
THE NEED FOR INSTITUTIONAL DISCIPLINE
The answer is not to curtail the role of the CBI. India’s premier investigative agency serves an indispensable function in cases requiring specialized expertise, inter-state coordination, or exceptional public significance. Its intervention remains essential in matters where local investigations may be compromised or where broader public confidence requires an independent probe.
However, the threshold for such intervention must remain principled rather than emotional.
Converting every high-profile tragedy into a CBI investigation may satisfy immediate public demands, but it risks diluting the agency’s effectiveness by stretching institutional capacity beyond sustainable limits.
Investigative priorities should be determined by legal necessity, complexity, and public interest—not by television debates, social media campaigns, or headline pressure.
JUSTICE BEYOND PUBLIC SENTIMENT
The criminal justice system functions best when it resists the temptation to equate visibility with importance.
Whether the case concerns a dowry death, allegations of marital cruelty leading to suicide, or a multi-crore financial fraud, the governing principle must remain constant: every matter deserves a fair, prompt, professional, and evidence-based investigation.
The Haryana bank scam serves as a cautionary tale. A case involving allegations of massive financial irregularities and public funds reached a point where an accused secured statutory bail because the charge sheet was not filed within time.
Such outcomes may not always be the result of negligence. They may equally reflect the growing pressures on agencies expected to handle an ever-expanding range of responsibilities.
If investigative priorities continue to be reshaped by media pressure rather than objective assessment, the ultimate cost will be borne not only by the exchequer, but also by public confidence in the administration of justice.
In a democracy governed by the rule of law, justice cannot be determined by the volume of public outrage. It must be guided by evidence, institutional discipline, and the consistent application of legal principles.
—The writer is Advocate, Supreme Court, and former member NHRC
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