Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Rohit Joshi, observed that the Divisional Level Police Complaint Authority (DPCA) does not have the power to direct the registration of an FIR.
Meanwhile, the bench has instructed the Superintendent of Police (SP), Latur, not to register any FIR against the petitioner police officer based on the authority’s order dated February 21, 2025, until further orders are issued.
What is the original case?
According to the complaint filed by Balegunisa Begum Mohammad Samiyoddin Chaudhary, the issue dates back to October 21, 2020. She alleged that when she went to her field to inspect the removal of a nameplate bearing her name and boundary markers, she was molested and threatened with death. Following this, she went to the Udgir (Rural) Police Station to file a case against 18 accused persons, but the police officer on duty allegedly refused to register her complaint. Even a complaint sent via post was not accepted.
Later on, accepted the complaint after intervention of the Superintendent of Police (SP), did a primary investigation, stated the complainant to DPCA. The complainant Balegunnisa Begum named the Udgir (Rural) Police Station’s police inspector Deepak Kumar Waghmare, API R R Bhole, PSI Tanaji Cherle, PI A B Gharge and PSI Vyanket Kulkarni for not registering the complaint after the High Court’s order and assisting the accused in seeking bail.
DPCA recommends
After judicial inquiry, the DPCA holding responsible the then PI Waghmare and PSI Kulkarni recommended filing an offence against them under Section 199 of BNS. Hence the two police officers through Adv Vijay Latange challenged the order in the High Court. Latange during the hearing pointed out that DPCA failed to follow the principles of natural justice. He mentioned of discrepancies in the woman’s complaint and her statement. To support his argument, he referenced the legal precedent set in the case of "Priya Paul vs. State of Maharashtra & Others."