Truth Has No Deadline: Delhi High Court Transfers 8-Year-Old Mysterious Death Case to CBI

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has handed over the probe into the mysterious and “suspicious circumstances” surrounding the 2017 death of a 23-year-old man to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), observing that “the search for truth is never time-barred.”

The order came on Thursday while hearing a petition filed by the victim’s mother, who highlighted several lapses in the Delhi Police investigation and questioned why her son’s alleged murder was dismissed as a suicide.

Court Flags Investigation Gaps

Justice Tushar Rao Gedela noted that many criminal cases across the world have been solved decades later due to advancements in forensic science, which enabled re-testing of crucial evidence. He cited examples such as the capture of US serial killers—the Golden State Killer (Joseph James DeAngelo) and the Green River Killer (Gary Ridgway)—whose cases were cracked using modern forensic tools.

The court directed the CBI to conduct a fresh investigation into the circumstances of the youth’s death and take all steps required under the law. All police departments and agencies involved have been instructed to hand over every document, record, and piece of evidence collected so far to the CBI within four weeks.

Mother’s Fight for Justice

The petition was filed by Anu Duggal through advocate Nitin Mehta. She is the mother of Arnav Duggal, a 23-year-old hotel management graduate who was working as a manager with ITC Grad India at the time of his death.

Arnav was found dead on 13 June 2017 under unusual circumstances at Flat No. 441, Shakuntalam Apartments, Sector 10, Dwarka. The flat belonged to the father of his female friend, identified as “MT” in the court order.

Alleged Murder Passed Off as Suicide

According to the petitioner, the police on the scene claimed that her son had committed suicide. However, she suspected that the room had been arranged in a manner to make the death appear self-inflicted.

In August 2017, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch, but the mother alleged that the probe remained superficial and incomplete.