The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to take over investigation into sexual exploitation of women and children in 16 shelter homes of Bihar, apart from its ongoing probe in the one at Muzaffarpur, which has caused massive outrage across the cou
 
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to take over the investigation into sexual exploitation of women and children in 16 shelter homes of Bihar, apart from its ongoing probe in the one at Muzaffarpur, which has caused massive outrage across the country.
 
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta rejected a plea by the Bihar government, represented by advocate Gopal Singh, for seeking 10 days or at least seven days to file a fresh status report on the investigation carried out by the state police so far with regard to the other homes.
 
“We have seen what have you done,” the bench said, adding, “we are transferring the investigation to CBI, you can take one month or two month time to file your status report.”
 
“The state is acting in all sincerity. Such kind of order would cast a doubt on the state,” Singh pleaded.
 
On this, the bench said, “The state has not done its job properly, you had enough time to do it, but you did not do it.”
 
At the outset, the bench took exception to a note sent by the Bihar police stating that instructions have been issued to the investigating officer in carrying out the probe.
 
The court said the superior officers can’t issue directions to the investigating officer on carrying out the probe in a particular manner.
 
The court also asked a special public prosecutor, representing the CBI, to take instructions from interim director M Nageshwara Rao, whether the agency would be able to take up a probe into cases of 16 shelter homes as pointed out by a social audit report of Tata Institute Social Sciences (TISS).
 
The Muzzafarpur shelter home case has come as a big embarrassment to the Nitish Kumar government. Tales of exploitation of young girls in the shelter home run by Brijesh Thakur and the public outrage forced the state government to order the CBI probe.