SC rejects Bihar govt's plea, directs CBI to takeover shelter home cases

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to takeover the probe into allegations of physical and sexual abuse of inmates at several shelter homes in Bihar.

A Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) report had raised grave concerns about 17 shelter homes in Bihar. The SC said that the CBI must look into it.

It also dismissed the Bihar government's request to not transfer the shelter homes cases to CBI and said henceforth, CBI officers probing shelter home cases in Bihar cannot be transferred without its prior permission.

CBI told the bench, also comprising Justice SA Nazeer and Justice Deepak Gupta, that in principle, it was ready to take over the investigation. The agency is already investigating the Muzaffarpur shelter home case, in which it is expected to file a charge sheet by December 7, the court was told.

The apex court on Tuesday had pulled up the Bihar government for failing to register appropriate criminal cases in connection with the alleged abuse faced by inmates in the state's shelter homes.