After CID, now Mumbai Police avoids registering FIR in Badlapur encounter case in spite of HC order

Sources in the Mumbai police confirmed to The Indian Express that so far, an SIT has not been formulated in the case. “While certain officers were selected, a go-ahead has not been received from the senior officers as yet,” the source said.

On the issue of no FIR being registered in the matter, the source said that since the CID had approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the Bombay HC order, they were waiting for the SC order. The Bombay HC had however refused to stay its order till the time CID approached the SC, meaning the SIT could have begun investigations in the matter without waiting for the Supreme Court order.

The source further said that so far, they have not received the necessary case papers from the CID which the court had directed them to hand over to the SIT within two days. The Indian Express reached out to both Gautam and CID chief Prashant Burde but no response from received from their side as to why the SIT was not formed or FIR not registered and why papers were not handed over to the Mumbai police.

The source said that the state government is likely to carry out large scale IPS transfers in the state within the next few days.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar’s tenure comes to an end on April 30, so within the next 10 days, his replacement along with transfers of several senior officers will take place.

Gautam, the crime branch chief, has completed his tenure and is also likely to be transferred. There is however no clarity if he will continue to oversee the probe if he is posted someplace else or the officer who replaces him as joint commissioner (crime branch) will oversee the probe if it begins at any stage.

The source said that since the opposition has been alleging that it was the state government that had ordered the encounter before the state polls, senior officers are aware about the sensitivity of the case and are treading cautiously.

As a result, currently there has been no FIR registered in the case inspite of the fact that the magistrate inquiry report dated January 17, submitted to the high court, said that it “found substance” in the “false encounter” allegations made by the parents of the deceased. The five policemen allegedly involved in the incident had approached the Thane Sessions court that kept in abeyance the finding’s of the Magistrate’s inquiry report for some time. The inquiry report further said that the use of force was “not justified and contention raised by police personnel of the right of private defence comes under the shadow of suspicion.”

The Bombay HC had observed, “The case requires thorough investigation as it is undisputed that the deceased succumbed to bullets fired by a police officer when he was in police custody.” It further said the police authorities shall follow the principles laid down in the Supreme Court judgment in the Lalita Kumari case, including registration of FIR, and “ensure that the case which prima facie discloses the commission of a cognisable offence, is taken to its logical end.”

The 23-year-old janitor, arrested in August 2024 for the alleged sexual assault of two minor girls at a school in Badlapur in Thane district, was shot dead while he was being transported in a police vehicle on September 23. The court allowed a plea by the father of the deceased seeking an SIT inquiry into their son’s custodial death.