MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a writ petition by Shobha Budhivant, a city-based lawyer, seeking directions to the Powai police to register a complaint on the alleged police encounter death of Rohit Aarrya, who took 17 children and two adults hostage recently. Aarrya was shot dead by assistant police inspector, Amol Waghmare, during the rescue operation at a film studio in Powai last month.
A division-bench comprising Justice Ajey Gadkari and Justice RR Bhosale said the petitioner should instead approach a magistrate’s court with a private complaint.
Armed with an air gun and flammable chemicals, Aarrya, 50, had taken children aged between 10 and 15 years hostage, to allegedly draw the attention of the state government to certain demands. When the police entered the studio to rescue the hostages, they shot Aarrya dead in the ensuing police operation.
Nitin Satpute, appearing on behalf of Budhivant, told the court he had tried approaching the Powai police station with a complaint. However, he said, they turned him away. He claimed he had also approached senior police officers in the hierarchy but his complaint fell on deaf ears.
“This is not a complaint,” the court said, perusing a document submitted by Satpute, adding, “The Supreme Court has settled the law on this, we refuse to admit this matter. You have an alternate efficacious remedy. Approach the magistrate with a private complaint.”
Budhivant’s petition claimed Aarrya had been cheated of ₹2 crore by the Government of Maharashtra, which forced him to take the extreme step of kidnapping children to recover his alleged dues.
“Encounter was done only to hide the failure of state police machinery due to high pressure who failed to protect children. Accused Rohit was shot in his chest… Police could have shot on his legs…” the petition stated.
It added that “the state has violated the right to life of the accused and the complaint against him are allegations which a court of law has to try and decide. Until then, he is innocent and cannot be presumed to be guilty by the police by themselves and do justice by taking the law into their hands by executing the accused in a staged encounter, throwing the provisions of law into the air in complete disregard to the rights of the accused. If such incidents are allowed to go scot-free, then the future of this state would be in doldrums at the hands of police hooliganism. Common man cannot expect justice at the hands of the police. It would turn out to be a police state,” the petition states.
However, following oral directions from the court, Satpute withdrew the matter with liberty to approach a magistrate with a private complaint.