Why no FIR when report indicted cops responsible for accused's death? HC

The Bombay High Court has asked why a First Information Report FIR could not be lodged once it came to fore that five policemen were responsible for the death of an accused in Badlapur sexual assault caseThe Maharashtra government on the other side asserted it was already investigating the incident as an accidental death caseA division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale on Thursday reserved its order on the issue of whether an FIR ought to be lodged by the government pursuant to an inquiry report submitted by a magistrate holding five policemen responsible for the death of the accused while in custodySenior counsel Amit Desai appearing for the government said the state is already carrying out an independent investigation and that the government has also set up a commission under a retired Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court for a probe into the incidentThe accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case Akshay Shinde was allegedly killed in a police shoot out in September last year when he was being taken to Kalyan in Maharashtras Thane district from the Taloja prison in Navi MumbaiHe was arrested in August 2024 for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls inside the washroom of a school in Badlapur town of Thane district He was an attendant at the schoolOn September 23 2024 he was killed in the alleged police shootout while being taken from the Taloja prison for questioningThe escorting police team members claimed they shot at the accused in selfdefence after he snatched a gun of one of them and opened fireUnder provisions of the law which mandates a judicial probe into cases of custodial death a magistrate conducted an inquiry and submitted the report to the HCIn the report the magistrate had said there was substance in the allegations made by the accuseds father that it was a fake encounter and also raised suspicion on the policemens claims of selfdefenceThe report had held five policemen responsible for the death of the accusedDesai argued that after the incident an accidental death report was lodged and the state Crime Investigation Department CID was conducting its investigation into Shindes deathThe court then asked if an investigation could be carried out only on the basis of an accidental death report ADRWe are concerned about the registration of FIR Where is that Is the ADR an FIR We understand that initially ADR is lodged but when subsequently it comes to fore that it was not an accidental or natural death but a homicidal death shouldnt a FIR be lodged the bench queriedThe HC further asked what the CID proposes to do once its investigation is completedOnce the investigation is over the CID will file its final report as per provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code It could either be a closure report or a prosecution report chargesheet Desai saidSenior advocate Manjula Rao appointed by the court for assistance said once the magistrate report has been submitted stating that it was an unnatural death an FIR ought to be registeredThe police had claimed Akshay Shinde snatched a gun of one of the police personnel in the van opened fire and was killed in the retaliatory firingHe was shot at by senior inspector Sanjay Shinde Assistant police inspector Nilesh More two constables and the police driver were also present in the van at the time of the shootoutThe accused was being taken for questioning in connection with a case lodged against him by his wifeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever