HC dismisses contempt petition in Maval police case

The Bombay high court on Friday dismissed a contempt petition filed against Maharashtra government in the Maval police firing incident of August 2011 wherein three farmers were killed.

Justice R V More dismissed the petition filed by social activist I G Khandelwal, based on whose complaint a First Information Report was registered against eight policemen, after observing that there was 'no merit' in it.

Khandelwal had sought contempt action to be initiated against S S Solunkhe, superintendent of police, Pune rural and Shankar Kengar, deputy SP, Daund region for flouting an order of the magistrate's court in Maval.

The magistrate had on August 24, 2011 passed an order directing investigation into the firing incident to be carried out by a police officer from the Vadgaon police station in Maval.

However, the probe was handed over by the government to Kengar, DySP of the Daund region. Aggrieved by this, Kahndelwal filed a contempt petition in high court stating that the government and police officers were deliberately disobeying the lower court's order.      

The government, however, informed the court that it had challenged the magistrate court's order before a sessions court and as the sessions court rejected the government's application, the probe was handed over to the Vadgaon police in Maval and thus there was no contempt of court.

The court accepted the government's version and dismissed the contempt petition.

The Maval firing case dates back to August 9, 2011 when the police opened fire on a mob of farmers who were opposing government's decision to lay a closed pipe line to supply water from Pavna dam to the limits of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.