Man granted interim bail arrested by police after registering second crime in respect of similar offence; Bombay HC orders probe into the 'high-handed' conduct of the investigating officer

The Bombay High Court has taken strong exception to the act of the Bandra Police in arresting a city resident despite being given interim protection from arrest in a similar case by the Court before.

Bombay High Court

The Bandra Police registered a second case, lodged by the same complainant, just 30 minutes before the man, Abid Hussain, was to arrive at the police station on the High Court's orders. Livid at the circumvention of the court orders, Justice Sadhna Jadhav directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone 9) to look into the conduct of the probe officer.

"It is apparent on the face of record that the investigating officer has been hand-in-glove with the complainant.Only to bypass an order passed by this court granting interim relief in favour of Hussain, (the officer) has attemp ted to register a fresh FIR and arrested him although (the officer) was fully aware that in a similar transaction, he (Hussain) has been protected by this court," Justice Jadhav said.

The High Court also pointed out that police had violated procedure by not sending a copy of the FIR to the magistrate and by detaining Hussain's family at the police station to secure his arrest.

"The high-handedness of the police officer is writ large on the face of record. The DCP, zone-9, shall personally look into the manner of the functioning of the investigating officer," the Bombay High Court said, giving the DCP six weeks to conduct an inquiry and file a report in the court before the next hearing of the case on February 6.