Bombay high court pulls up police in drain death case

The Bombay high court on Wednesday came down heavily on the police for failing to register a first information report (FIR) even two months after an 11-year-old boy fell to his death in an open drain at Worli.

A division bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice AR Joshi was hearing a petition filed by Shailesh Jadhav whose son Tushar fell into the drain on November 11, 2010, while playing with a friend.

It took 12 hours to retrieve his body as the fire brigade and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) personnel could not  locate him.

“We fail to understand why the police did not register an FIR. It can be case of homicidal or accidental death, but the registration of the FIR was inevitable due to commission of cognisable offence,” the judges noted in their order.

“Whether it is a case of negligence or otherwise, or which authorities or personnel should be held responsible, is a matter of investigation,” they added.