In a recent development, the Bombay High Court (HC) has dismissed a plea for investigation into former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh's alleged involvement in the Antilia bomb scare case and Mansukh Hiren's murder.
Justices Sunil Shukre and Kamal Khata found that the petitioner's material was hearsay evidence, and that there was no suggestion of any cognisable crimes committed by Singh. The court ruled that further police investigation is not warranted unless credible material is available on record.
Parshuram Sharma filed the plea asking State Police to investigate Singh's alleged involvement in both cases. However, the court noted that a coordinate bench had made certain observations on the payment of INR 5 lakh to a cyber expert, Ishaan Sinha, but this was insufficient to call for an investigation into Singh. The petitioner would need to provide additional evidence to turn suspicion into a reasonable probability of criminal activity.
According to section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), only the informant with credible knowledge of a crime occurrence has the authority to make a formal complaint with the police station. Only when a cognisable offence under section 154 of the CrPC is revealed in a police report, can criminal law be initiated. All these elements were missing in this case, making it impossible to launch an investigation into a crime. The bench dismissed the petition after making these observations.
Attorneys NS Ghanekar and Kuldip S. Kahalekar appeared for the petitioner, while attorneys Sandesh Patil and Chintan Shah represented the NIA. YM Nakhwa, an additional public prosecutor represented the state.
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