Mumbai, October 7, 2026: The Bombay High Court has strongly pulled up a Chembur police officer, saying his conduct during the investigation of a caste certificate case prima facie showed an attempt to favour the accused and frustrate the petitioner’s legal remedy.
A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata said investigating officer (IO) Police Inspector had “exceeded his jurisdiction, prima facie with a view to help the accused person” and had tried to “overreach this Court”.
Petition Seeks Transfer Of Probe
The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate Chitra Salunke seeking transfer of the investigation into an FIR registered at Chembur police station. Salunke, represented by senior advocate Rajiv Chavan, had alleged that the investigation was being conducted in a “lackadaisical manner” to benefit Ramesh Suresh Kamble.
The case concerns allegations that Kamble, a former BMC corporator, had falsely claimed Scheduled Caste status. According to the petition, Kamble had contested the 2002 BMC election from a ward reserved for Scheduled Castes. His caste certificate was later invalidated by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, and the decision was upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.
The petition alleges that despite the earlier invalidation, Kamble subsequently obtained another caste certificate in November 2025 claiming to be a Buddhist (Mahar) and allegedly sought to contest an election from a reserved ward.
The FIR includes allegations under several provisions relating to cheating and forgery. The High Court noted that the earlier caste validity certificate declaring Kamble a Hindu (Mahar) had been invalidated and the decision upheld by the Supreme Court.
Court Questions Timing Of C-Summary Report
The bench particularly questioned the timing of the police action. The investigation had started on April 2 but remained incomplete for nearly five months. After the High Court expressed its concerns on September 1, IO filed a more than 500-page ‘C-summary report’ on September 15, just a day before the matter was to come up again.
The judges said the report appeared to merely repeat the Caste Scrutiny Committee’s findings and failed to properly investigate allegations regarding monetary benefits and other issues. They said the officer had “deliberately taken all steps to protect the interest” of Kamble, calling the conduct “wholly unconscionable”.
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Commissioner Asked To File Affidavit
The court further said it prima facie appeared that IO had “dishonestly taken” the steps “only with a view to favour” Kamble and described the filing of the C-summary report as an “orchestrated attempt” to frustrate Salunke’s remedy and overreach the court process.
The court directed the Mumbai Police Commissioner to personally file a detailed affidavit addressing the allegations and fixed the matter for October 21.
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