On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court established a panel of doctors from three Mumbai hospitals to provide their expert opinion on a case involving a man from Kolkata who alleged that his son was murdered. The police, however, had classified the case as a suicide and subsequently closed it.

Pankaj Datta, 77, has petitioned the court requesting an order for the police to file an FIR regarding the death of his son, Abhijeet. Datta's petition alleges that he was informed by police officials of his son's suicide and was shown the body, identified by its clothing, in a prostrate position. He claims he was pressured to cremate the body quickly.

In his petition, Datta described being taken by the police to the flat where Abhijeet was found. He noted that the room was locked from the inside, with no visible signs of damage, but blood on the floor and scattered belongings. Datta, convinced of foul play and armed with photos of the scene, attempted to file a complaint on September 26, but the police did not accept it despite several follow-ups.

Datta also questioned why Abhijeet, who had recently purchased commercial premises in Gurugram and planned to return to Kolkata, had rented a place in Mumbai for a new job in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

In court, Additional Public Prosecutor VB Konde Deshmukh reported that the Accidental Death Report (ADR) initially closed as a suicide has been reopened and is under investigation by Assistant Commissioner of Police Sampatrao Patil of the Meghwadi division.

Dr. Shiv Kumar from Cooper Hospital, who conducted the autopsy, testified that the case was concluded as a suicide. He was questioned by the court about why the autopsy was not video recorded, to which he responded that videography is only performed if requested by relatives. The bench further interrogated Dr. Kumar about the ability of doctors to determine the nature of death from the body alone.

"We are quite sure that there was no trauma and based on all the information we had, we can find out whether it is due to asphyxia or due to trauma that a person has died," the doctor said.

On Wednesday, Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan directed the heads of the Forensics departments at JJ Hospital, KEM Hospital, and Nair Hospital to review the inquest panchnama, which includes observations and photographs of the crime scene, as well as other relevant materials. The bench instructed the panel to provide their "independent opinion" within the next four weeks.