HC warns city’s police chief of CBI probe over his conduct

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday pulled up the commissioner of police (CP) for alleged inaction in a forgery case and warned that it will have to “direct

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday pulled up the commissioner of police (CP) for alleged inaction in a forgery case and warned that it will have to “direct the CBI to probe the CP’s conduct if he fails to explain his failure to act”.

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A bench of justices Naresh Patil and PD Naik sought an explanation from the CP by Thursday.

The observations came while the bench was hearing a plea filed by the owner of a hotel, Shelleys, a heritage structure located near Radio Club in Colaba. In his plea filed against the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), the petitioner Atul Bisaria, through his counsel, claimed that he had purchased Shelleys in 2006. And sometime in 2014, while settling his finances, it was revealed that the “shares and holdings of the property were illegally transferred to another man”.

As per two police reports submitted in the HC by Bisaria, on August 25, 2015, following his complaint, the then CP directed that an FIR be filed and a probe be initiated.

However, in May this year, the current CP directed that the “FIR be held and the probe into the complaint be closed”. “The two reports of the police commissioners are absolutely contrary (to each other) and there is no reason given for deciding to hold the FIR,” the bench said.