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The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has filed an intervention application in the Tamil Nadu Police challenge of the Madras High Court order, transferring investigation into 17-year old Thanjavur girl’s (Lavanya) alleged forceful conversion & suicide case to CBI, stating that there has been a grave injury and violation of the rights, whereas, NCPCR feels duty-bound to submit the findings of its inquiry to assist the apex Court.

The application filed through Advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi has stated that NCPCR has received 3545 complaints with request to conduct inquiry against the allegations in connection to this incident.
In furtherance to which NCPCR had written a letter to the Director-General of Police, directing to initiate an investigation in the matter, whereas, NCPCR didn't receive any Action Taken Report or response in the stipulated time.

In addition to this, the application states that, "Considering the seriousness of the matter, and the lax response of the State Authorities regarding the death of a minor girl in Thanjavur, a team of three officials headed by the Chairperson, NCPCR, visited Thanjavur. Tamil Nadu on 30th and 31st of January. 2022. for the purpose of conducting a thorough inquiry in the matter."

Whereas, during the visit and inquiry, many discrepancies and lapses were observed by the officials of the NCPCR which required immediate steps taken by the school authorities for the care of the minor girl after she fell sick and in the investigation into the death of the minor girl being done by the authorities, which are stated in the report prepared by the NCPCR.

In this regard, the plea has stated that during the visit it was found by the team during the course of inquiry that not only were there procedural gaps in the investigation, such as non-sealing of the alleged scene of crime by the local police, the warden not being remanded, non-identification of the vendor/source of poison that the child vict ingested, but violations under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and its 2016 Rules also had taken place, inclusive of but not limited to, Sections 41, 42, 54 and Rules 26, 29. 34/35, 73/77, 107 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and its 2016 Rules respectively.

The application has further informed the apex court that several letters have been addressed to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Central Bureau of Investigation, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, State of Tamil Nadu seeking an investigation into the issue and disciplinary action against the officers involved.

NCPCR mentioned in the application that "there has been a grave injury and violation of the rights of the child victim, when she was alive which has led her towards the decision to take her precious life. It is further observed by the NCPCR that mischief could have been done, both while the child victim was alive and while her death was being investigated."

"The NCPCR feels duty-bound to submit the findings of its inquiry to assist this Hon'ble Court with its findings and has come to the Hon'ble Court in the hopes that no other child would suffer from the similar fate as the child victim and to assist the Hon'ble Court in reaching a just, fair and equitable decision," the application added.

Earlier, The Supreme Court while refusing to interfere in the Madras High Court order transferring investigation into 17-year old Thanjavur girl’s (Lavanya) alleged forceful conversion & suicide case to CBI had issued notice on the question of remarks made by the High Court against State police’s inaction and bolstering of counter-narratives in the case.

In the Special Leave Petition, the Tamil Nadu government, through the DGP, challenged validity of the order passed by a single-judge bench of the high court's Madurai Bench. The DGP has also challenged the remarks that Madras High Court has made against the State Police's thorough inaction and lack of concerted effort in chasing the probable angle of conversion that led to the girl's suicide and instead of bolstering the counter-narrative of the involvement of the step mother.

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on January 31, 2022, had ordered the transfer of the student death case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Single Judge Bench of Justice G.R. Swaminathan had passed the order in a petition moved by the father of the 17-year-old girl who had killed herself in Thanjavur reportedly because she was forced to undergo religious conversion. Thereafter the girl's father had sought CB-CID inquiry into the case.

In the judgment, the High Court had expounded multiple circumstances to arrive at the conclusion that the "investigation is not proceeding on the right lines" and that it was the Court's duty to render posthumous justice to the child.

"Since a high ranking Hon'ble Minister himself has taken a stand, investigation cannot continue with the State Police. I, therefore, direct the Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, New Delhi to assign an officer to take over the investigation from the State Police," Court said while allowing the petition by M Lavanya’s father plea seeking a CB-CID inquiry into his daughter’s death.

Meanwhile, the father of the girl has also filed a caveat requesting the apex court not to pass any order, without hearing him in the matter.

On February 1, 2022, a plea in the Supreme Court was filed by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay who had sought an investigation into the root cause of the death of 17-year-old Lavanya. He further sought a declaration that fraudulent religious conversion and religious conversion by intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits offends Articles 14, 21, 25 of the Constitution.

Case Title: The Director General of Police and Ors. Vs. Murugananthan & Anr.