Mumbai: The Bombay high court has asked the commissioner of Mumbai police to register an FIR against a man who is accused of usurping land belonging to a church at Malad within three weeks and file an affidavit.
The petitioner had complained that the police had failed to take cognisance of his complaint despite repeated requests. A division bench of Justice B.R. Gavai was hearing a criminal writ petition filed by the pastor and trustee of the Lutheran church at Malad seeking directions to the state home department and Mumbai police commissioner to register complaints against three persons who have allegedly usurped land belonging to the church by forging documents.
The petition stated that as the three persons named in this petition had resorted to criminal means to grab the land in the interest of the church and the community, the perpetrators involving a priest should be booked.
Advocate M. Panchal, who was representing the petitioner, stated that since the usurpation came to light in 2015, the church and trustee had been approaching the police to register complaints against the perpetrators and despite directions by the state government to the police to register complaints nothing had been done hence the writ.
After hearing the submissions, the court chided the police for their inaction and directed the commissioner to look into the issue and ensure that Complaints were registered within three weeks.
