Shimla
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has rejected the bail plea of Deshraj, Director (Electrical), Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL), who has been nominated as one of the accused in the case of abetment of suicide related to the corporation’s general manager Vimal Negi. The detailed order is yet to be uploaded on the court website.
The single bench of Justice Virendra Singh, while giving the order in the open court, dismissed the bail plea of the country Raj filed in the High Court on March 21, 2025. Confirming the court order, the applicant’s counsel said that the court had reserved the order on March 24 and now the bail plea has been rejected.
Desh Raj, former director of HPPCL and Managing Director of HPPCL, has been booked for abetment of suicide under Section 108 of the Indian Justice Code (Indian Penal Code Replacement).
Negi’s body was recovered from Bhakra Dam earlier this month and since then the case has made a lot of headlines in legal and public. The deceased Vimal Negi went missing on 10 March, after which his body was found in Govind Sagar in Bilaspur on March 18 this year.
It is worth noting that on the basis of the complaint of Kiran Negi, widow of the deceased engineer, an FIR was lodged at New Shimla Police Station. In this, two other officials, including former HPPCL Managing Director and Deshraj, have been accused of abetment to suicide under sections 108 and 3 (5) of BNS.
Court proceedings and arguments
During the hearing, the defense argued that the case does not come under Section 108 of the Code of Justice of India (BNS), which has replaced the Indian Penal Code. The defense counsel argued that the Deshraj office was not present at the time of Negi’s death and also questioned the credibility of the complaint lodged by Negi’s wife. The defense also said that Negi had hired a taxi to go to Bilaspur, which means that her mental state would have changed during the journey. The prosecution refuted the arguments, saying that the investigation is still in its initial stage, important evidence including CCTV footage has already been confiscated by the police.
The prosecution alleged that Negi faced “harassment and pressure” over financial transactions, which contributed to his mental stress. It was also revealed that Negi was seen clearly upset in the office before his death in CCTV footage. According to the status sources of the other accused, one of the main accused, HPPCL employee, allegedly fled to Chandigarh after finding Negi’s body and is now suspected to be in Rajasthan. So now that the matter is under investigation, and further developments are awaited as law enforcement agencies are continuing the search for other accused.
