Mumbai, Dec 11: The Bombay High Court on Thursday observed that there seemed some malafide in scaling down the security of Zeeshan Siddique, son of late Congress leader and former MLA Baba Siddique, who was killed in October.
Plea Seeks Transfer of Murder Probe to Independent Agency
The observation was made by the court while hearing a plea by Shehzeen Ziauddin Siddique, through advocate Trivankumar Karnani, seeking transfer of the investigation into her husband’s murder to an “independent and impartial agency”.
Baba Siddique Shot Dead in Bandra; Had Raised Safety Concerns Earlier
Siddique, 66, was shot dead by three assailants outside his son Zeeshan’s office in Bandra (East) on the night of October 12, 2024. The plea pointed out that Baba Siddique had repeatedly raised security concerns and sought restoration of police protection weeks before his murder.
Security Reduced After Petition Filed, Says Advocate
After Siddique’s murder, Zeeshan was provided with police security after he filed an application for the same. However, after the petition was filed, the police scaled down his security, said his advocate Pradeep Gharat.
HC Seeks Details of Committee Meeting on Security Reduction
In the first session, a bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and R.R. Bhonsale asked the state to provide the Minutes of Meeting (MoM) of the committee in which it was decided to reduce Zeeshan’s security.
Public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh, in the second session, submitted a file before the bench containing threat perception reports (TPR) by police, which is used to decide on providing, reducing or removing police security to person/s. She refuted that the security was reduced after filing of the petition.
TPR-Based Decisions Not Always Supported by Committee Meetings, State Says
Initially, Deshmukh said that the committee meets once in a month to process security applications. However, later she admitted that it may not be possible to meet every time. “It may take 2–3 months. Sometimes it is decided in one day (depending on threat perception),” Deshmukh said.
Bench Questions Lack of Committee Evaluation in Zeeshan’s Case
“If you have a committee it must meet and decide. Show us minutes of the meeting where it was decided to reduce security. Show its sanctity. Where is the finding that there is no threat perception at all? Show us reasoning given by any authority to scale down the security,” the bench pressed further.
Admitting that the meeting is not held for each and every case, Deshmukh said that at times it is decided as per TPR reports.
Court Notes Prima Facie Malafide in Security Reduction
On a court query, Deshmukh said that Zeeshan’s security was reduced from November 8. The bench then remarked: “Prima facie there seems malafide. Because this is not decided by some committee. It is by some officer/s, who approved and reduced the security.”
It further noted that there was no evaluation in Zeeshan’s case. “There is no perception of threat evaluated by the committee as such. Show us the committee's opinion,” the bench added.
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AG Asked to Appear Considering Case Complexity
Asking state advocate general (AG) to appear in the matter, the court noted in its order: “Taking in consideration the complexity of the case, we request the AG to appear.”
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