Akshay Shinde encounter: HC raps Thane court for keeping magisterial report on hold | Mumbai news
:MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday expressed displeasure over Thane sessions court keeping in abeyance the report of a judicial magistrate who inquired into the encounter killing of Akshay Shinde – the accused in the Badlapur school sexual assaults case.
The sessions court has put the report on hold, citing judicial impropriety to deal with the matter since the high court was hearing the case.
A bench comprising justice Revati Mohite-Dere and justice Dr Neela Gokhale was hearing a petition filed by Akshay’s father, Anna Shinde, seeking investigation into his son’s encounter killing, claiming that the encounter was staged, and his son was killed for political reasons.
Anna had earlier sought to withdraw the petition, citing delay in deciding whether a cognisable offence was made out against the police officers, who allegedly shot dead his son after an alleged scuffle while transporting him from Taloja jail to Thane.
The high court on Thursday asked the state government whether an application for revision of the magistrate’s findings was maintainable and said that the state’s approach was shocking. “Is this a revisable order?” the judges sought to know from senior advocate Amit Desai and public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar, who represented the government. The government lawyers replied that they had no instructions regarding the issue.
The court also appointed senior advocate Manjula Rao as amicus curiae while doing away with Anna Shinde, who had earlier demanded to “stop the proceedings” citing delay by the court to reach a decision.
“An ‘accidental death report’ regarding Shinde’s death has been filed by a magistrate and (on the other hand) Shinde’s father has sought to withdraw the matter. The Thane sessions court has now kept the findings of the report in abeyance on a revision application filed by the police officers. We are appointing you as the amicus to help us reach a logical conclusion to these issues,” the bench told the senior advocate.
Akshay Shinde, 24, was arrested on August 16 last year for allegedly sexually assaulting two four-year-old girls at a pre-primary school in Badlapur East, where he worked as a janitor. On September 23, he was shot dead by Thane police in an encounter near Mumbra while being transported in a police van from Taloja jail.
According to the police, Shinde had snatched a service pistol from an officer seated next to him and fired three rounds. One bullet reportedly hit an officer in the thigh, while the others missed. The police claimed that as Shinde attempted to fire again, an officer shot him in the head, killing him instantly. The judicial report, however, cast doubts on the police’s version and held the five policemen responsible for Shinde’s death.
