Ajay Mafatlal has moved the Bombay high court to get an FIR lodged against him quashed.
Ajay, in his petition, said officers at Gamdevi police station registered an offence against him under section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (II) (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC on December 26, 2007, at the behest of his younger brother Atulya and his wife Sheetal.
The police lodged an FIR against Ajay, 52, and their cousin Shailaja Parekh, 52, on charges of intimidating Atulya and Sheetal.
When the case came up for hearing on Monday, justice SC Dharmadhikari asked the police how they lodged an FIR in a non-cognisable offence. “They (the complainant) had a remedy to file a private complaint,” Dharmadhikari said. The court directed additional public prosecutor Shahaji Shide to call the investigating officer on Wednesday.
Ajay sought anticipatory bail on December 28, 2007, but withdrew it because the offence was bailable. Though Ajay was not arrested during investigation, the police filed a charge sheet on July 31, 2009, before the Girgaum metropolitan magistrate. The magistrate took cognisance of the offence and Ajay was arrested. That same day, he was released on a bail of Rs10,000.
Ajay said in the petition that Atulya had falsely implicated Parekh and him. “The charge sheet does not point out any material connecting Ajay to the alleged offence,” his counsel Sayaji Nangre said. The police cannot lodge an FIR because the offence is non-cognisable, Nangre said. Moreover, the police did not seek the mandatory permission of a magistrate before investigating a non-cognisable offence, he said.
Comments