Acquittal Leaves Minor’s Rape and Murder Unsolved: Supreme Court Orders De Novo Investigation by New SIT

Case Name: Kusumavati Gowda v. The Government of Karnataka & Others

Date of Judgment: 21 September 2026

Citation: 2026 INSC 1030

Bench: Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva, JJ.

Held: Constitutional courts may order a fresh investigation in exceptional circumstances where the earlier investigation was not proper or objective and a fair investigation is necessary to prevent a miscarriage of justice. The passage of time alone did not justify refusing reinvestigation here: potential witnesses remained available, and forensic material could still be compared with samples from suspects. The person previously tried and acquitted could not be subjected to a second investigation or prosecution in this case.

Summary: A 17-year-old girl was raped and murdered in 2012. The investigation passed through the local police, CID and CBI, but the sole person prosecuted, Santhosh Rao, was acquitted in 2023 after the trial court found no evidence connecting him to the crime. The victim’s father sought a de novo investigation. The Karnataka High Court acknowledged that the acquittal raised the question of who committed the offence, yet dismissed the petition on the view that useful evidence was unlikely to remain. After the father’s death, the victim’s mother pursued the appeal. The Supreme Court found that potential witnesses could still be located and that hair recovered from the victim’s clothing could potentially be used for DNA comparison. In light of the serious deficiencies it identified in the earlier investigations, the Court directed a fresh investigation by a team unconnected with them.

Decision: The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s dismissal of the writ petition and directed Karnataka to constitute a Special Investigation Team headed by a senior police officer. No officer involved in the earlier local police, CID or CBI investigations may join the team. The SIT must complete its investigation within three months and file a police report before the competent court. The Court expressly protected Santhosh Rao, who had already been acquitted, from further investigation or prosecution and made no finding on any other individual’s involvement.