Zubeen Garg's death case: Organiser moves Supreme Court for transfer of probe to CBI or NIA

New Delhi: Shyamkanu Mahanta, organiser of the North East India Festival and an accused in death of singer Zubeen Garg has approached the Supreme Court seeking transfer of probe to the NIA or the CBI.

Mahanta has been arrested on Wednesday in the case of the death of the singer in Singapore on September 19 by the Assam's CID.

His plea contended he was a victim of a well calculated witch-hunt involving irresponsible media reportings, both print and electronic, which sought to create a false narrative with regard to his alleged involvement in "the sad and unfortunate demise of his very dear personal friend, Garg".

"The allegations are ludicrous to say the least as the petitioner, who was the event organizer of a festival to be held on 19 -21 September, 2025 at Singapore and was not even present at the place of occurrence of the unfortunate demise of the late singer," the plea said.

The petitioner claimed he could not even meet the deceased on September 19, 2025 i.e., the date of the incident, as he was busy in overseeing the arrangements of the festival and had met him only on September 17, 2025.

The news of the late singer’s unfortunate demise reached the petitioner at around 1 pm Indian Standard Time (IST), via a telephonic call from Siddharth Sharma, manager of the deceased, also arrested, informing him about the accident involving the deceased while they were travelling in a yacht, the plea said.

His plea contended the atmosphere in the State is extremely surcharged, and the entire State machinery as well as the fans of the late singer are emotionally outraged and there is every likelihood of the petitioner not getting justice in the State.

"The gravity of the situation and the extent of prejudice and bias against the petitioner became even more apparent in light of the fact that the All Assam Lawyers’ Association has publicly urged its members of the legal fraternity not to represent the accused persons in Zubeen Garg’s demise case," it contended.

This unprecedented call to boycott the defense has far-reaching implications. It undermines the very foundation of the criminal justice system, where the right to a fair investigation, trial and the right to legal representation are held to be sacrosanct. Such a collective directive effectively deprives the accused of his fundamental right under Article 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution, which guaranteed every individual the right to personal liberty and to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of their choice, it added.

He sought a direction to appoint a retired Supreme Court judge to supervise and monitor the probe into the matter.

Mahanta is the younger brother of former Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta and current Chief Information Commissioner. He was arrested on Wednesday after landing in Delhi.

The 52-year-old Assamese music icon died on September 19 during a diving accident in Singapore, sparking angry reactions in the state.