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Guwahati: Union Home Minister Amit Shah granted sanction under Section 208 of the BNSS to the Assam government to proceed against those linked to the death of Zubeen Garg in Singapore, allowing the police to file charge sheet, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday, the first birthday of the singer post his death.

Section 208 of the BNSS says that if a crime is committed outside India, the case can be taken up by the court only after the central government gives prior sanction, he said.

The CM said that today ”marks the 53rd birthday of our beloved Zubeen Garg — a day that reminds us of his music, his voice, and his irreplaceable place in Assam’s heart”.

“On this very day, the Hon’ble Union Home Minister Sri @AmitShah Ji has granted the required sanction under Section 208 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to proceed against the accused linked to Zubeen’s death in Singapore,” Sarma said in a post on X.

This sanction is a crucial legal step, allowing the administration to file a charge sheet and move forward firmly and lawfully for trial of the case, Sarma added.

He said that they remain fully committed to file the charge sheet against the accused persons within December 10 this year.

Garg died in Singapore, where he had gone to participate in the North East India Festival (NEIF), on September 19 and after his cremation here, multiple FIRs were filed, with the state government constituting a Special Investigating team (SIT) under the CID to investigate the case.

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Subsequently, seven people, including festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, his manager Siddhartha Sharma, his cousin Sandipan Garg, musician Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, singer Amritprabha Mahanta and two Personal Security Officers (PSO), were arrested in this connection.

Sarma had said in October that the charge sheet by the SIT will be submitted within the stipulated period of three months and the investigations were proceeding on expected lines.

The Assam government is very serious about Zubeen Garg’s death and ”we will definitely ensure justice to him and nobody will be spared in that context”, he said.

Usually, three months of time is given to submit a charge sheet and the police will not take more time than that to ensure that, the CM said.

He said that the SIT has assured him that investigations will be completed by the end of November and the chargesheet will be submitted most likely in the first week of December.

The Assam cabinet had also recently decided that the state government will request the Gauhati High Court for a fast-track court to decide and deliver justice on Zubeen Garg’s death case.

”There is usually a complaint that the courts take a long time to deliver justice and so the state cabinet has decided to approach the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court for a fast track hearing into the case after the Special Investigating team submits its chargesheet,” Sarma said

The Assam cabinet has also decided to appoint a Special Public Prosecutor on the recommendation of the state Advocate General who will be engaged only for the hearing of the case from the filing of the charge sheet to the delivery of justice.

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