The Bombay high court on Tuesday questioned the Maharashtra government for letting off former superintendent of police, Pune (rural), Sandeep Karnik, with a mere warning, for opening fire on villagers protesting at Maval near Pune in August 2011. The state informed the HC that they have asked the director general of police (DGP) to issue a warning to Karnik for his actions of firing and ordering police to open fire.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday questioned the Maharashtra government for letting off former superintendent of police, Pune (rural), Sandeep Karnik, with a mere warning, for opening fire on villagers protesting at Maval near Pune in August 2011. The state informed the HC that they have asked the director general of police (DGP) to issue a warning to Karnik for his actions of firing and ordering police to open fire.
As per an affidavit filed by joint secretary Charusheela Tambekar, the government has also asked the DGP to take disciplinary action against the three other policemen who fired on villagers, upon Karnik's orders.
A division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Anil Menon asked whether the government would initiate any departmental proceedings against Karnik, or would stop at merely giving a warning; also, whether the government has set any outer limit for completing disciplinary action against the three policemen.
The police officers were found to be guilty by the MG Gaikwad committee, which was probing the police firing incident at Maval. Despite the officers being indicted by the committee, the government had not taken any action against them.
During an earlier hearing, the judges observed: "Prima facie, we are of the view that merely issuing a letter cannot be said to be action taken against the errant officials. The government will have to take action as per law, and take this matter to its logical conclusion."
At the time, the HC was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by activist IG Khandelwal seeking an FIR against Karnik, who was leading the team at Maval, and was the first to open fire.
On August 8, 2011, the police had opened fire on villagers who were protesting against the government's decision to lay a closed pipeline to supply water from the Pavna dam, to the limits of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. Agriculturists had claimed that they would not get water for their crops if the closed pipeline is laid. Three protestors were killed in the firing. After the incident, Karnik was transferred out of Pune (Rural).
The committee had concluded that the firing was not necessary, and the officers acted beyond their powers, violating provisions under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
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