SANTOSHANAND AVADHUT @ GHANSHYAM PRASAD & ANR vs CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Judgment text excerpt

$~3& 4 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of Decision: 24th February, 2026. Uploaded on: 26th February, 2026. + CRL.A. 91/2015&CRL.M.A. 32334/2025 SANTOSHANAND AVADHUT @ GHANSHYAM PRASAD & ANR .....Appellants Through: Ms. Sima Gulati and Mr. Pankaj Yadav, Advocates. versus CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION .....Respondent Through: Mr. Rajesh Kumar, SPP-CBI with Ms. Mishika Pandita, Mr. Changez Khan and Mr. Siddharth Shekhar, Advs. ~4 AND + CRL.A. 130/2015&CRL.M.A. 15461/2021 SUDEVANAND AVADHOOT @ RAMCHANDRA @ BHARAT @ DOCTOR @ MISRI LAL YADAV .....Appellant Through: Ms. Sima Gulati and Mr. Pankaj Yadav, Advocates. versus CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION ( CBI) .....Respondent Through: Mr. Rajesh Kumar, SPP-CBI with Ms. Mishika Pandita, Mr. Changez Khan and Mr. Siddharth Shekhar, Advs. Mr. Ajit Sharma, Ms. Kanchan, Mr. Raghav Sood and Mr. Aditya Jha, Advocates. CORAM: JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUSTICE MADHU JAIN Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral) 1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CRL.A. 91/2015 & CRL.A. 130/2015 Page 1 of 6 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:26.02.2026 15:20:14 2. An incident occurred on 2nd January, 1975 leading to the unfortunate demise of Sh. L.N. Mishra, the then Railway Minister, Government of India at the Samastipur Railway Station in Bihar. The said incident is at the core of these two appeals. There were a total of three persons who had passed away in the said incident and 18 persons were injured. 3. The said incident was initially investigated by the State C.I.D., Bihar and the same was thereafter, handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (hereinafter, ‘CBI’) within a span of 2 to 3 days itself. The CBI had then taken over the investigation and the matter is stated to have been o