HC asks trial court to monitor probe into missing doctor accused of murder

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has asked the trial court to review once a month progress of the probe into the disappearance of a St Stephen’s Hospital doctor as well as into the alleged murder of his colleague of which he is accused. 

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta passed the order disposing a plea filed by Vandana Gupta who had moved the court to ascertain the whereabouts of her son Dr Suyash Gupta. 

The bench has recorded in its order that a status report was filed by the Delhi Police detailing the probe undertaken by the Sabzi Mandi Police to ascertain the whereabouts of the doctor. 

It also stated that the report could not be shared with the doctor’s mother at this stage. “This status report, therefore, be kept in a sealed cover by the registry and not be permitted for inspection except under orders of the court,” it added. 

The doctor, who has been missing since August last year, is a prime suspect in the death case of fellow doctor Shashwat Pande. Addressing the concerns of the mother that the status reports were merely cut-paste copies of earlier reports and that no real progress was being made in the case, the bench noted that every possible effort was being made to find him.

“Having gone through the status reports presented thus far, including the one presented to it in a sealed cover, the court is unable to accept the above submission. The petitioner should rest assured that every possible effort is being made by the police from all possible angles to unearth the truth, the order states. 

The high court has directed the metropolitan magistrate hearing the matter to list the case at least once every month to review the progress made in the investigation. 

In her habeas corpus, the mother through her counsel Jayant Bhatt had sought the high court’s intervention to direct the police to find her son who has been missing since the day of the killing. 

Pande was working as an intern in the radiology department of the hospital and was found dead inside the hospital’s CT scan lab in August last year. His throat had been slit, presumably with a surgical blade.