The Madras High Court, on Tuesday, April 16, pulled up the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) for prolonged delay in completing the probe in the Vengavayal case. A bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad questioned the CB-CID regarding the delay in the investigation. The court directed the police to complete by July 3, 2024. 

According to reports, Chief Justice Gangapurwala, while hearing the case, had said, “The FIR was registered in June 2023 and almost 15 months have passed but the investigation has not been completed. Why does it take this long to complete the investigation? It cannot go on in perpetuity. You have to expedite it.”

The CB-CID informed the court that 337 people’s statements have been recorded so far and that the investigation would be completed in three months. The Division Bench, taking note of CB-CID’s statement, said that the court expected to receive a final report in the case on or before July 3, 2024. 

On December 24, 2022, when five Dalit children fell ill and had to be hospitalised in Vengavayal, the residents found that their common drinking water tank was contaminated with human excreta. 

Initially the case was investigated by the Vellanur police. However, as the police did not make any headway, the case was later taken over by the CB-CID on January 14, 2023.

During the course of the investigation, the CB-CID had taken blood samples from 31 people at various times for DNA testing in Chennai, but the results did not match the faecal samples taken from the water tank. 

Meanwhile, the Madras High Court also formed a one-man commission chaired by the retired judge V Sathyanarayanan after an advocate filed a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging that the investigation was a “farce” and an “eyewash”.