On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court dismissed one Public Interest Litigation seeking the transfer of the investigation into the death of Shraddha Walkar from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court also stated that the petitioner will be charged a fee.

According to a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, the police are conducting their investigation and the Court will not be monitoring it. The Court also imposed costs while dismissing the plea.

The counsel for the Delhi Government informed the court that no research was conducted and that the plea was filed without mentioning any relevant grounds. The Delhi Police told the court that the case is being investigated by a team led by senior police officials, and that the investigation is already 80% complete. The Central Government also opposed the PIL, claiming that a private party through a PIL cannot dictate how an investigation should be conducted.

Joshini Tuli, a practising advocate, filed the PIL, alleging that the Delhi Police revealed minute and sensitive details of the investigation to the public via the media."That so far the Delhi Police/P.S. Mehrauli have revealed each and every detail to the media and public person regarding every step of their investigation which is not permitted as per law," the plea said.

The murder was allegedly committed in Delhi, and the victim's body parts were disposed of in various locations, according to the petition. As a result, it was argued, the Mehrauli Police Station is not equipped to conduct the investigation due to a lack of staff and technical equipment.

The grisly murder case involves a couple who allegedly met on the mobile dating app Bumble and later began a live-in relationship. They were originally based in Mumbai before relocating to Delhi earlier this year.

According to the police, on May 18, this year, after a quarrel between the couple in a rented flat in Mehrauli, the accused strangulated the victim, chopped her body into 35 pieces, stored it in a fridge, and then dumped the parts throughout the city over the next 18 days.

Case Title: Joshini Tuli V. State of (NCT) Of Delhi & Ors.

Case Number: W.P. (C) 16104 / 2022