The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday came to the rescue of Mumbai police chief Ahmad Javed and other top public servants in cases where criminal proceedings had been initiated against them. The HC held that prior sanction to prosecute public officers is essential, without which criminal action cannot be initiated.
The court, therefore, quashed all orders issued by magistrates and special anti-corruption court, directing a probe and registration of FIR against Javed and others including Debashis Chakravarty, then CEO of Slum Rehabilitation Authority. Other officers who had gone to court to challenge criminal proceedings against them and orders of the magistrate were Ujjwal Uke, principal secretary (woman and child development department); S S Zende, vice-president of Mhada, Nirmal Deshmuk, officer on special duty Dharavi redevelopment board and several secretaries of SRA and additional collector of encroachment Hikmat Udhan and Devendrakumar Jain, Ramakant Jadhav and S Nevatia.
Advocate Jagdish Reddy had appeared for Chakravarty, Uke, Zende, Deshmukh and Udhan and others in eight petitions that questioned issuance of order by magistrates in private complaints without prior sanction. Against all SRA officials, the complaint was of corruption and forgery regarding sanction of slum schemes in the city. Most complaints were filed in 2012-13.
Advocate Raja Thakare who appeared for Javed as his counsel argued that before taking cognizance of even a private complaint, sanction is necessary. The HC upheld this point. In Javed’s case, it was a complaint of alleged corruption said his advocate-on-record Prathamesh Samant, filed by a police sub-inspector over a transfer dispute. Javed was not even in Mumbai then, said his lawyer, and had clearly no role and despite lack of any sanction, the magistrate had passed orders.
Prior sanction from the government is required before court can take cognizance of a case, including ordering a probe by cops in private complaints too, the HC bench held. The court was collectively deciding 10-odd pleas on the law point of prior sanction.
Javed had moved HC in 2014 against a special ACB judge’s order of last December directing the police to probe a private complaint by Baban Jadhav against him and other officers.