The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Maharashtra Police for failing to register an FIR in connection with a murder during communal clashes in Akola in 2023. The court said police officers must set aside their personal and religious biases while in uniform and act with complete integrity.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma directed the state’s home department to form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case. The SIT will include senior police officers from both Hindu and Muslim communities and has been asked to submit its report within three months.
“Needless to state, when members of the police force don their uniforms, they are required to shed their personal predilections and biases, be they religious, racial, casteist or otherwise. They must be true to the call of duty attached to their office and their uniform with absolute and total integrity. Unfortunately, in the case at hand, this did not happen,” the bench observed.
The clashes had broken out in May 2023 in Akola’s Old City after a social media post about Prophet Muhammad went viral. One person, Vilas Mahadevrao Gaikwad, was killed and eight others, including the petitioner, were injured.
Petitioner Mohammad Afzal Mohammad Sharif, who was 17 at the time, said Gaikwad was attacked by four men with a sword, iron pipe and other weapons. He alleged that the same group also assaulted him and damaged his vehicle. Though he was hospitalised and his statement was recorded, no FIR was registered.
When Sharif approached the Bombay High Court seeking action, his plea was dismissed after the court questioned his credibility. Maharashtra Police also claimed he was not in a position to speak when an officer visited him in hospital and said his claim of being an eyewitness was unsubstantiated.
The Supreme Court rejected this stance, saying it was the duty of police to investigate his allegations. “It was for the police to investigate the truth or otherwise of the specific allegations made by the appellant, a 17-year-old boy, who asserted that he was an eyewitness to the murder of Vilas Mahadevrao Gaikwad and was himself assaulted by the very same assailants,” the bench said.
The court directed disciplinary action against the police officers responsible and ordered the state government to sensitise its force on their legal duties. “Measures shall also be initiated to instruct and sensitise the rank and file in the police department as to what law requires of them in the discharge of their duties,” the bench added.
