Book TMC chief Sanjeev Jaiswal under POCSO: Petition

Mumbai: A petition has been filed in the Bombay high court seeking the registration of an FIR against the Thane municipal commissioner, Sanjeev Jaiswal, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the ground that he used to allegedly ask a minor to massage him at night.

According to the petition, the child’s hut was subsequently demolished after she stopped turning up at Mr Jaiswal’s home.

The petitioner, RTI activist Vikrant Karnik, also sought that the investigation be carried out into the matter by a woman police officer “not below the rank of an additional commissioner of police”. Mr Karnik has claimed he is in possession of a video clip in which the girl states the entire incident.

Mr Jaiswal has refuted the allegations. He said, “The girl herself admitted that the video in which she had made the allegations against me was fake. After that, the cops registered an FIR.”

He added that the it is yet to arrest the accused. I am sure the petitioner must be having some vested interest. Mr Jaiswal said, “How many times should I give an explanation? If he (the petitioner) is still not satisfied, let him go to court.”  

According to the petition, the girl alleges in the video that she used to work in Mr Jaiswal’s house where he ill-treated her. Furthermore, he used to tell her and three other girls to massage him late at night.

Mr Karnik stated that after this video went viral, he started searching for the girl and came to learn that she was removed from the job on the pretext of her committing a theft. He also stated that the girl resided near the slum of Tikujiniwadi, but when he went there, he came to learn that her hut was the only one in the locality that had been demolished by the anti-encroachment department.

The petition stated that the girl alleged in the video that the anti-encroachment officers had warned the slum owner that if the slum entire slum would be demolished if she (the owner) didn’t drive the child away.

Mr Karnik also alleged that the police refused to register an FIR against Mr Jaiswal, and he also tried all available remedies to register an FIR, therefore he approached the court. The petitioner said he had also sat on hunger strike, but no one paid any heed to him. Mr Karnik alleged that the anti-extortion cell of the Thane police had made fake video of the girl, in which she had withdrawn her allegation against Mr Jaiswal. He further stated that when he was on hunger strike, the girl’s mother approached him and said she had withdrawn the statement due to police pressure.