Bombay HC issues notice in plea challenging FIR against SPP who represented state in cases against Parambir Singh

After the HC said proceedings in the writ plea will not preclude petitioners from seeking relief from trial court, Jagtap approached the Sessions court with anticipatory bail plea and sought urgent protection from arrest. The court has scheduled a hearing on Saturday. The sessions court had on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest to Bhalerao.

Jagtap has represented the prosecution in most of the extortion and cheating cases filed against former Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh and other police officers of Mumbai Police and rival builder Sanjay Punamiya.

Punamiya filed a complaint against Jagtap claiming that based on the information obtained under RTI from the state home department, Jagtap represented the state government as public prosecutor in sessions court and high court in multiple cases involving him and his rival builder Shamsunder Agarwal and others, despite the fact that he was only authorised to represent the state in these cases only at the magistrate court level. Punamiya alleged that Jagtap did so to help the accused in the case and harass him. The Marine Drive police had filed an FIR under offences including cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy of the IPC.

On Friday, a division bench of Justices Atul S Chandurkar and Jitendra S Jain of the High Court issued notice to respondent complainant and authorities in Jagtap’s plea seeking quashing of FIR against him seeking their response on the next date of hearing on April 5.

“Pendency of the present proceedings would not preclude each Petitioner from approaching the Sessions Court for seeking appropriate protection in accordance with law. Similarly, the Sessions Court would not be influenced by the pendency of the present proceedings while considering any such request made by any Petitioner,” the HC noted.