A division bench of justices Ranjana Desai and RV More said, 'The circular doesn’t allow police officers to perform their duties. It was means of not allowing transparency in the system.'
Holding that prima facie the circular issued by the state government directing all police stations not to record in the station diary details of calls and conversations made by politicians to investigating officers as incorrect, the Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the state government to have a re-look at the circular.
A division bench of justices Ranjana Desai and RV More said, “The circular doesn’t allow police officers to perform their duties. It was means of not allowing transparency in the system.”
The state government had on November 11, 2010, issued a circular stating that the police must not record in their station diary any instructions coming from MLAs or ministers.
“The circular is rather odd. First of all, phone calls should not be made by ministers. If calls are made then why police officers are prohibited from entering it in the station diary. Transparency is required,” the bench said.
Directing the court to have a re-look at the circular, the bench said, “We are not forcing the government to cancel issuance of the circular. But we find the circular odd. If the government decides to go ahead with the circular then the court will decide the case on merits and gave the state a week’s time.”
The bench said, “The circular was issued after the Nagpur bench of the HC imposed a fine of Rs25,000 on the state government after an aide of former Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh tried to interfere with a criminal case registered against a family member of an MLA.”
The state government had appealed in the Supreme Court, which dismissed the plea and imposed a cost of Rs25 lakh on Deshmukh for interfering in the case.
Defending the circular, Public Prosecutor Pandurang Pol argued that “this circular is only to inform the policemen as per Section 226 of the Criminal Procedure Code. It is only a procedure which is set out in law that is required to be followed by them.
The decision to issue it was taken after a question was asked in the floor of the House, where every elected member has its right and the CM had in the monsoon session assured the House that action would be taken on it.” The hearing has been adjourned till June 15.
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