The Police Apologize For Handcuffing The Lawyer, And The Bombay HC Has Asked The District Judge To Investigate The Illegal Arrest

Background

• A few weeks back, Adv. Vimal Jha was arrested by the Kharghar police for allegedly kidnapping his client and extorting Rs. 3 Crore from him. Mr. Jha was booked under sections 323, 364 A, 365, 387, 506 r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code. A petition was filed by Jha, seeking directions to quash the FIR.
• According to the Counsel for Petitioner, Mr. Jha was illegally handcuffed while he was brought from the police station to the Court.
• Also, when the Chief Public Prosecutor Deepak Thakare was asked about Mr. Jha’s arrest, he failed to give a steady answer and claimed the unavailability of the CCTV Footage.
• During the previous hearing, the Hon’ble Court held that this is a very serious matter as a lawyer is behind the bars and gave the next date for the hearing.
• It is decided that Principal District and Sessions Judge Hon’ble Justice R.M. Joshi will scrutinize whether Mr. Jha was illegally detained from 3rd to 5th April, whether handcuffing him is justified and whether the claim of unavailability of the CCTV footage as alleged by the police is valid.

What did the Petition allege

• The petition alleged that Mr. Jha was a victim of a conspiracy plotted by Mr. Navnath Gole (Mr. Jha’s client) in collusion with the police officials of the Kharghar Police Station.
• Under the MOU dated 27th December 2020, executed by and between Mr. Jha and the Complainant, Mr. Jha had agreed to purchase the flat of the Complainant at Vashi, Navi Mumbai, for consideration of Rs.80 Lakh.
• The MOU was duly signed and notarized and the Complainant had acknowledged that he had received Rs.50 Lakh towards sale consideration from the Petitioner. But the Complainant was not able to complete the deal and the Petitioner had demanded back his advance payment of Rs.50 Lakh from the Complainant.
• The petition also alleged that the Petitioner was wrongfully detained and that the Police are refusing to produce the CCTV footage and giving inconsistent answers is proof of the conspiracy hatched against the petitioner.

Prayer sought by the Petitioner

• The petitioner prayed that the FIR registered by the Kharghar Police for offenses punishable under Sections 323 read with 34, 364A, 365, 387, and 506 of the Code be quashed.
• Ad interim relief is granted, directing the Respondent to not take any coercive steps till the final disposal of the writ petition.
• That retired High Court Judge be appointed to enquire about the illegal arrest of the petitioner from 3rd April to 5th April.
• To direct the Commissioner of Police, Kharghar, to preserve the CCTV footage from 2nd April to 5th April and the copy of the same should be provided to the Court and the counsel for the Petitioner.
• To direct the Respondents to provide details of the tower location of both the mobile phones of the Petitioner and a copy be provided to the Counsel for the Petitioner
• To grant ad-interim relief by directing the Respondent not to take any coercive steps till final disposal of the said Writ Petition by this Court, and any other relief/s as this Court may deem fit in the matter.

Inquiry sought by the Bench

• It was suggested by the bench to Mr. Thakare that given the serious allegations against the Kharghar Police Station, an independent inquiry was to be conducted. The bench sought the following inquiry.
• The Court appointed Thane District and Sessions Judge R. M. Joshi to enquire about the following matters.
• Whether the Petitioner was illegally detained at the Police Station from 3rd April till the registration of FIR on 5th April and consequently his arrest on 5th April at 4.39 am?
• Whether handcuffing the petitioner while bringing him in front of the JMFC was justified?
• When was the installation of CCTV camera commenced and when was it completed? When did the cameras become operational and recorded the activity in and out of the police station?

Court’s order

• Senior Police Inspector of the Kharghar Police Station submitted an apology to the Court for handcuffing the Petitioner and also proposed an inquiry in the regard that the petitioner was in police custody from 3rd to 5th April doesn’t appear to be plausible and the reason of unavailability of CCTV cameras in the police station is difficult to accept.
• The Court appointed Justice R. M. Joshi to enquire into the above-mentioned matters.
• The Court ordered the police personnel of Kharghar Police Station to assist Justice Joshi including producing before him all the relevant data and documents pertaining to his inquiry. And Justice Joshi is required to complete his inquiry with any influence of observations passed in this order.
• The Court ordered the FIR registered with Kharghar Police to be transferred to State CID to carry out further investigation in the matter and Kharghar Police station was directed to transfer all the relevant data and documents to the State CID to carry out the necessary investigation. Any complaint regarding the matter was directed to be filed only before the State CID.
• The Court further ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State CID, to monitor the said investigation and the Investigating Officer to submit his report for the said purpose to the DCP of the State CID.

What do you think of this matter?