Bombay HC orders SIT probe, FIR against police officials

In a setback to the Maharashtra government, the Bombay High Court pulled up the state and asked it to file an FIR against the policemen who were involved in the "fake encounter" of Akshay Shinde. On Monday, the Bombay HC constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the "fake encounter" on Shinde, who was arrested for sexually assaulting two four-year old girls at a pre-primary school last year. The SIT will function under the supervision of Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Lakhmi Gautam and will be headed by a DCP rank officer.

A division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale noted that the father of the accused killed in the encounter had withdrawn from the case seeking to register an FIR against the policemen. The bench, however, said that even though the parents had withdrawn from the case, the court 'cannot be mute spectators'.

"A constitutional court cannot ignore the state's failure to fulfil its obligations. Refusal to investigate a crime undermines the rules of law, erodes public faith in justice... The state's reluctance to even register an FIR has left the petitioner and his wife feeling helpless, forcing them to forego closure over their son's untimely death. Such negligence weakens public trust in institutions and compromises the state's legitimacy. As a constitutional court, we cannot permit this and be mute spectators."