New Delhi: Though the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi has claimed that the forensic report submitted by it to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput has ‘conclusive findings’, it is unclear if this would help the agency establish if the death was a suicide or murder.The past record of AIIMS, the country’s premier medical research institution, in high profile investigations is not very encouraging.Yet the institute was entrusted with the task of analysing the post-mortem report and autopsy along with photographic evidence after the case was taken handed over to the CBI.After AIIMS was approached by the CBI, it constituted a medical board which discussed the case with the agency and Central Forensic Science Laboratory teams.The chairman of AIIMS’s Forensic Medical Board Sudhir Gupta had subsequently stated that a fully conclusive and fact-based report will be submitted. The findings of the report will be closely watched as there is a raging debate on national and social media platforms on whether Rajput died by suicide or if foul play was involved in his death. Following various campaigns, the case was taken over by CBI from the Mumbai police.Bihar elections cast a shadow on Rajput caseRajput’s death has also become an issue in the upcoming Bihar elections. While some are accusing the BJP-JD(U) alliance in the state of raking up the issue for political gains by trying to project the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra in negative light by casting aspersions that it deliberately downplayed an alleged murder, there are others who believe the hype around the case has been built to distract the wider audience.They see a deliberate ploy by media houses close to the Centre to keep the focus away from burning issues like the COVID-19 crisis, the standoff at the India-China border, and protests over changes in farm, labour and FCRA laws. As such, there is a belief that the intense scrutiny of the case would die down once the Bihar assembly polls are over.Sushant Singh Rajput. Photo: PTIAIIMS submits report to CBIWhat the AIIMS report, which is expected to provide the CBI with the basis to come to a conclusion, holds is still a matter of conjecture. The final medical opinion will be placed before the court as the matter is now sub-judice.While channel Times Now claimed that the Medical Board sources assured that the “final conclusion will be ethical and non-partisan which won’t leave any scope of confusion or ambiguity”, thereafter the Board is said to have taken the view that it was in agreement with CBI in the death case. It was, however, not made clear what this meant.However, at the time of the submission of the report to the CBI earlier this week, Gupta noted that there was still a need to look into certain legal aspects for the authorities to reach a logical conclusion. He was quoted by news agency ANI as saying: “AIIMS and CBI are in agreement on the Sushant Singh Rajput death case but more deliberations are needed. There is a need to look into some legal aspects for a logical legal conclusion in due course of time. It will be totally conclusive.”However such play of words has in the past resulted in AIIMS not being able to provide clarity on the causes of several mysterious deaths it was asked to submit forensic reports on.No finality in Sunanda Pushkar death caseIn the death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of former Union minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, the final medical report of AIIMS, submitted on December 29, 2014, came in for a lot of scrutiny and criticism. Then Delhi police commissioner B.S. Bassi had claimed it was conclusive. He told Firstpost: “The final medical report we received from AIIMS has concluded that the death was not natural and caused due to poisoning. The poison was either injected or fed orally. An injection mark on the body made the possibility of it being self-inflicted remote.”However, a doctor quoted by the same portal had claimed that the report was “politically motivated”. Associated with the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of AIIMS, he claimed that the “intake of acetaminophen (a paracetamol) with alcohol” resulted in the death of Pushkar.In the final report, the panel of doctors had suggested that her death occurred due to poisoning, but they could not ascertain the nature of the poison.The report prepared by a team headed by Gupta had listed the poisons/chemicals (nerium oleander, snake venom, heroin, polonium 210 and thallium) as the probable cause of death but added that they “cannot be tested in India”.Earlier, the preliminary report had stated that Pushkar’s body had 15 injuries, all caused within 12 hours before her death, which was “sudden, unnatural and due to drug overdose”. The Delhi police had termed the preliminary report “inconclusive” and sent it back to AIIMS to seek several clarifications. The reason behind Pushkar’s death still remains a mystery.File photo from August 22, 2010, shows Congress MP Shashi Tharoor with his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Photo: PTIIn Nido Tania’s murder, AIIMS report did not assist in convictionIn 2014, the brutal killing of Nido Tania, son of a former Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh Nido Pavitra, at the hands of several shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar left everyone shocked. Before assaulting the 19-year-old, the accused made fun of his hairstyle and passed racist comments. The assault took place at three different places and the youngster, who was repeatedly hit with a stick, died the following day.This case too was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The post-mortem was conducted at AIIMS. However, the report did not assist in the investigation. It noted that there was not “much injury or aberration” on the body. It was the Central Forensic Science laboratory (CFSL) report which confirmed that Tania died due to “blunt trauma on head and face”.Last year, a Delhi court convicted four men in the case. They were sentenced for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and common intention. The judge wrote, “A definite message needs to be given so that citizens, particularly from the North East region, feel safe in any part of the country.” Three juveniles, also accused in the case, were tried separately by a juvenile justice court.This case highlighted the importance of forensic evidence in such cases.AIIMS reports did not reveal much in British national, NRI’s murderBefore this case, AIIMS was also involved in the investigation of two other sensational cases. One pertained to the murder of a British citizen, Roddick Andrew Raymond, whose body was found in a plastic bag in South East Delhi in 2014. In this case, the autopsy report of AIIMS remained inconclusive.The autopsy report said deep gashes were found on the body but these could have developed due to decomposition and may not be injury marks. Finding this report inconclusive, the Delhi police had relied on the viscera report from the CFSL and other forensic reports for establishing the cause of death.Similarly, the AIIMS’s autopsy report in the death of non-resident Indian Anmol Sarna, who died in 2013 during a party in Kalkaji in South Delhi where drugs were allegedly consumed, had not shed much light on the case. In all, nine persons were arrested in this case of murder and consumption of drugs. In 2018, four of Sarna’s friends were chargesheeted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by the Delhi Police.If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers (www.spif.in/seek-help/) they can call to speak in confidence. You could also refer them to the nearest hospital.
