The Bombay High Court questioned how the state could investigate the purported police encounter of Akshay Shinde, the accused sexual assaulter in Badlapur, without filing a formal complaint against the five police officers involved. The state has described the situation as an “accidental death” and stated that it is carrying out an “investigation” rather than an “inquiry.”
On Thursday, a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela Gokhale postponed deciding on a response to a plea from Anna Shinde, who claimed that his son was killed in a fictitious encounter and asked that the police officers be held accountable. Following the parents’ attempt to withdraw the case, the bench designated senior counsel Manjula Rao as an amicus curiae (friend of court) to assist.
The bench will determine whether the state should file a formal complaint against the five police officers in response to the magistrate’s inquiry report.
The state’s senior attorney, Amit Desai, said that a committee headed by a retired chief justice of the Allahabad High Court has been established to look into the occurrence, and that the CID is carrying out an independent investigation.
Senior Inspector Sanjay Shinde shot at Shinde while he was being transported from Taloja jail. At the time of the shootout, the police driver, two constables, and assistant police inspector Nilesh More were also inside the van.
According to the police, they had to shoot in self-defense after Shinde attempted to seize a gun. A January 17 magisterial inquiry report, however, cast doubt on the matter, claiming that the cops could have managed the situation and that the use of force was not warranted.
The court then inquired as to whether an inquiry could be conducted solely based on a report of an accident death. We are worried about the FIR filing. Where is that? Is an FIR filed for an unintentional death? Shouldn’t a formal complaint be filed if it turns out that the death was homicidal rather than accidental or natural? The bench asked.
When asked what the CID planned to do after its investigation was over, Desai replied that it would either file a chargesheet or a closure report, depending on the probe’s findings.
According to the amicus, a formal complaint should be filed as soon as a magistrate’s report confirming that the death was “unnatural and suspicious” is presented.
