Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra government to file reply to a contempt of court petition against Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh for the reinstatement of four policemen facing trial for the custodial death of blast suspect Khwaja Yunus.
Yunus’ mother Asiya Begum moved the high court on June 23, contending that taking the accused policemen back in service was “intentional defiance and non-compliance” of the court’s past order.
“By its orders passed in April 2004, the high court had directed the state government to suspend the four policemen and start disciplinary inquiry against them as they have been prima facie found to be involved in the offence,” the petition, filed through senior advocate Mihir Desai, said.
Assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze and constables Rajendra Tiwari, Sunil Desai and Rajaram Nikam are facing trial for murder for the alleged custodial death of Khwaja Yunus (27) in 2003.
Last month, a review committee headed by Singh ordered that the four policemen be reinstated in the force pending preliminary departmental inquiry and the trial.
A division bench of Justices A A Sayed and N R Borkar on Friday directed the state government to file its affidavit in reply, and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.
Begum said in the petition that to date no departmental inquiry has been initiated against the four accused, or if it was initiated, no report has been submitted.
The four policemen were under suspension since 2003- 2004 and Vaze had resigned in 2008 and joined the Shiv Sena, the petition said.
Now the Shiv Sena heads the Maharashtra government and in June 2020 the review committee “purportedly reviewed the suspension and recommended its revocation”, the plea said.
Apart from Singh, the petition sought action for contempt of court against Amitabh Gupta, Principal Secretary, state home department.
The order of June 5, 2020, should be withdrawn and the four policemen should be suspended, it demanded, and also sought a speedy departmental inquiry against the accused.
Yunus was arrested on December 25, 2002, in connection with a blast in suburban Ghatkopar. The co-accused in the case later alleged that he was severely tortured in lock-up, leading to his death, while the police claimed that he escaped from custody.
