Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Maharashtra Police for failing to file a First Information Report (FIR) in the alleged multi-crore scam pertaining to the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank despite orders.
The HC questioned the ‘powers’ of the Maharashtra Police for closing the case without filing an FIR.
A bench of Justices Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Sandeep Shinde was irked over the office of the Director General of Police (DGP), for not filing an FIR against several persons including bureaucrats and politicians, accused of misusing their offices, when in power.
The bench was dealing with criminal public interest litigation (CRPIL) seeking a thorough probe in the matter. The petition names politicians like Ajit Pawar, Vijaysing Mohite-Patil, Jayant Patil etc and seeks a thorough probe in their roles in the alleged scam.
On earlier hearing, the bench had ordered the police to record the statement of the activist petitioner, who has filed this petition through advocate Satish Talekar. The bench was, however, irked to know that despite orders, the activist’s statements were not recorded.
The bench was further informed that the police has filed a closure report after conducting an enquiry in the matter and has found no evidence against anyone.
Irked over this ‘approach’ Justice Dharmadhikari said, “Who is the DGP or any other police officer to deny filing an FIR despite our orders? How can these officers refuse to file the FIR?”
“Are these officers not aware of the provisions of the criminal code of procedure? How can these officers close the case without filing an FIR?” an enraged Justice Dharmadhikari asked. The bench has accordingly closed the matter for judgment.
