The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest till November 15 to suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Saurabh Tripathi in the case relating to extortion of Angadiyas or traditional couriers.
A vacation bench of Justices NR Borkar and Kamal Khata granted interim relief while hearing a plea by the suspended DCP against the order of the sessions court refusing to grant him relief.
The state government was represented by additional public prosecutor Veera Shinde, who said that she will take instructions from the investigating officer.
The sessions court, on October 19, had rejected his plea for the second time for protection apprehending arrest. The first such plea was rejected in end-March before the filing of the chargesheet in the case in April.
The IPS officer has claimed that he is falsely implicated in the case as he had issued a circular to police stations in his area to take strict action against hawala transactions by Angadiyas.
Seeking protection from arrest, Tripathi has also stated that the investigation in the case is complete and the chargesheet has been submitted before the trial court. Also, the other accused in the case have been released on bail.
According to the prosecution, Tripathi had demanded Rs2 lakhs every month from the Angadiya Association to allow them to run their business.
While rejecting Tripathi’s pre arrest bail plea, the sessions court had observed that the officer was not at all authorized to collect money from persons doing illegal business by using his authority. On the contrary, he has to act diligently to curb illegal transactions by following the provisions of law, it added. It had also noted that through his advocate, the officer had submitted a forged document before the court and had taken a note of such conduct too, while denying him the relief.
