Shimla – In a major development, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the suspicious death of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Chief Engineer Vimal Negi. The bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel directed that no officer from the Himachal Pradesh cadre will be part of the CBI team investigating the case.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by Vimal Negi’s wife, Kiran Negi, who alleged that her husband died under mysterious circumstances and that the state police had failed to conduct an impartial investigation. She expressed a lack of trust in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Shimla Police, accusing it of ignoring crucial leads and attempting to suppress facts.
Vimal Negi went missing from Shimla on March 10. A missing report was filed on March 11. His body was recovered from the Gobind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur on March 18, and the post-mortem was conducted the next day. It was later revealed that a mobile phone and a pen drive were found with the body, but the family alleges that despite sharing pictures of these items with the police, no serious investigation was carried out.
The High Court came down heavily on Shimla Police, stating that even after two months, the SIT had failed to reach any conclusion. The court also noted serious conflicts between senior officers, including the Director General of Police (DGP) and the Superintendent of Police (SP), which it said were delaying justice. “Justice should not only be done but must also be seen to be done,” Justice Goel remarked while announcing the verdict.
The court further observed that the reports submitted by the Additional Chief Secretary Omkar Sharma and DGP contained serious allegations against the then Managing Director of Power Corporation Harikesh Meena, and suspended Director (Electrical) Deshraj. The family has long maintained that these officers played a role in suppressing the case.
Following public pressure and outrage, the state government had earlier removed Meena and Deshraj from the corporation on March 19, with Deshraj being suspended. On the same day, Vimal Negi’s family and colleagues staged a protest with his body outside the Power Corporation’s BCS headquarters in Shimla, demanding action.
While the High Court had rejected Deshraj’s anticipatory bail plea on March 26, the Supreme Court later granted him relief on April 4. On April 7, Vimal Negi’s wife formally approached the High Court seeking a CBI probe. Dissatisfied with the pace and direction of the SIT’s work, the family reiterated their demand in another plea on April 21.
The affidavit submitted by the DGP on May 21 further questioned the credibility of the SIT, noting that only limited documents related to the Pekhubela project in Una were extracted from the pen drive recovered with Negi’s body. This led to increased judicial scrutiny and eventually Friday’s decision to hand over the case to the CBI.
The CBI will now re-investigate the case from the beginning, free from local administrative influence, offering new hope for Vimal Negi’s family and all those demanding justice.
