HC asks DCP to explain handling of Worli bar assault case

The case pertains to an incident that took place in October 2025, when two groups allegedly got into a brawl near Royal Bar in Century Mill, reportedly over a broken scooter mirror

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the deputy commissioner of police (Zone III) to appear before it on Friday and explain why three men allegedly assaulted during a clash between two groups outside a bar in Worli last October were later arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by their alleged attackers, while their own counter-complaint was allegedly not registered.

HC asks DCP to explain handling of Worli bar assault case

The incident took place on October 5, 2025, when two groups allegedly got into a fight near Royal Bar in Century Mill colony, Worli, reportedly over a broken scooter mirror. The altercation escalated into a violent assault involving a beer bottle, other blunt objects, punches and kicks, leaving three men hospitalised at KEM Hospital.

However, the NM Joshi Marg police station later arrested the three men from the hospital, based on a complaint filed by members of the rival group. Two of the three men—brothers Sandesh, 38, and Rohan Patekar, 25—then approached the high court, claiming that while the police registered the complaint filed by their alleged assailants, their own complaint against those who attacked them was never recorded despite repeated representations to various authorities.

She added that the three men, including the Patekar brothers, spent about five months in jail before being released on bail. In their petition, the Patekars contended that the FIR registered on October 6, 2025, presented a one-sided version of the incident. The police’s refusal to register their complaint despite the commission of a cognisable offence against them was “manifestly biased and an incomplete investigation,” the petition said.

During the hearing, a division bench of justices RV Ghuge and Hiten Venegaonkar examined photographs showing the injuries sustained by one of the men. “The man has lost an eye. On the next page, you can see he has a head injury,” said justice Ghuge. Turning to another page, the judge said, “You can see a whole group assaulting the man; his clothes were also torn.”

The bench then directed the DCP (zone III) to explain the actions of the NM Joshi Marg police station, which had registered the FIR.