2002 murder case: Perjury proceedings against cop for failing to identify killers

In a rare instance, the Bombay high court recently ordered perjury proceedings against head constable Deepak Trivedi, who, as an eyewitness, failed to identify the

In a rare instance, the Bombay high court recently ordered perjury proceedings against head constable Deepak Trivedi, who, as an eyewitness, failed to identify the men who murdered builder Swapnil Shirke alias Pintu, 30, on the premises of the sessions court in Nagpur in June 2002.

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Trivedi was the lone policeman escorting Shirke, an accused in a murder case, to the court. He was chased on the premises and stabbed multiple times by 10 men. Trivedi, too, was injured and hospitalised in the attack.

In 2017, a division bench of the Supreme Court had dismissed an appeal by the accused and upheld the life sentence awarded to Congress corporator Vijay Krishnarao Mate and six others, including Raju Bhadre, Kiran Umrao Kaithe, Dinesh Gaiki, Umesh Dahake, Ritesh Gawande, and Kamlesh Nimbarte, by the Bombay high court. Four others arrested in the case were acquitted for want of evidence.

In 2015, the Bombay high court while sentencing the accused to life imprisonment had initiated perjury proceedings against Trivedi for failing to identify the accused in the case, claiming the incident had happened 10 years ago. The HC had issued show-cause notice to the constable asking him why he should not be prosecuted

The division bench of justice NW Sambre and justice NB Suryawanshi took the notice into consideration while ordering the prosecution. “High court cannot be a silent spectator where stinking facts warrants interference in order to serve the interests of justice,” noted the bench, adding, “If this court remains oblivious to the patent facts on record, it would tantamount to failure in performing its obligation under the law.”

High court, however, refused to accept the explanation. “We are not convinced that because of lapse of 10 years, some mistake has taken place while identifying some of the accused and that the said mistake was not deliberate or intentional.”

The bench said being a responsible policeman on duty and as the deceased was in his custody on the court premises when he was brutally murdered, being the eye witness, Trivedi was duty-bound to tell the truth before the trial court. “However, he resorted to falsehood and hence, we are unable to accept the explanation offered by him.”

The bench also rejected the arguments advanced on his behalf that the high court had no authority to order prosecution for perjury. “This Court not only has the authority to exercise such jurisdiction, but also has an obligation to exercise such power in appropriate cases,” said the bench. “Looking to the facts of the present case, in our considered opinion, this is a fit case to exercise such jurisdiction, so as to maintain the majesty of judicial process and the purity of legal system,” noted the bench, while ordering for his prosecution.

Case Background

Swapnil Shirke, an engineering graduate, wanted to start his own business and had ventured into real estate. With his uncle Ranjit Shirke, he had decided to develop a 21-acre plot at Sakkardara. Swapnil had formed a cooperative society under the name Bhagyashri Cooperative Society in 2001 to develop the land which came as succession from the erstwhile royal family of Raje Raghuji Bhosle. Then sitting Congress corporator Vijay Mate had allegedly encroached upon 7000 square feet of the land in the property that belonged to Shirkes, and when Shirkes had tried to settle the dispute amicably, Mate had asked Swapnil to stay away from developing the land which set of an ugly war between them.

On July 18, 2001, Mate was allegedly shot at and his confidante Sanjay Gaikwad was killed. Swapnil was arrested as the main accused in the case. It was in this case that Swapnil was being produced when Mate engineered an attack on him in broad daylight and killed him.

The Nagpur police arrested 17 accused, including Mate, who surrendered himself before the police. A sessions court in Nagpur sentenced eight persons including Mate to life imprisonment, while it acquitted seven others in the case in October 2013. An appeal before the Bombay High Court sentencing 12 people in the case while acquitting three others in 205. The accused then moved an appeal before the Supreme Court while sentenced seven people including Mate to life imprisonment while it acquitted four others. One accused Raju Gaikwad is still wanted in the case.