Probe officer & SP of Ahilyanagar directed to pay Rs 5 K ‘cost’

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Rohit Joshi directed the investigating officer of Kopargaon Police Station and the Superintendent of Police of Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar) to pay Rs 5,000 ‘cost’ each from their own pockets for their failure to follow court orders.

According to details, Chandrakant Bhavani Shinde from Kopargaon filed a complaint in Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) of Kopargaon against bank employees Gyandev Shivram Boravke, Popat Kachru Gaikwad, Popat Raoba Korde and recovery officers S B Londhe and R T Agarwal, alleging that the bank officials had cheated him.

Following this, the JMFC ordered action under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure on 16 April 2012. However, the police did not register a case nor investigate the matter.

Therefore, the complainant Shinde filed a criminal petition in HC through adv Nilesh Bhagwat. During the hearing, the High Court referred to the judgments of the Supreme Court and stated that it is the duty of the police to register a case if orders were made under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

While the High Court had sent a notice seeking an explanation from police officers who failed to do so. As a result, the investigating officer and the SP were directed to pay Rs 5,000 ‘cost’ each. Adv Bhagwat was assisted by Adv Vilas Supekar, Bhushan Patil and Sanket Kunjir.