Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday, while rapping Navi Mumbai Commissioner of Police Hemant Nagrale for flouting court orders and taking away the police protection for the son (Sandeep Lahoriya) of slain Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Lahoriya who is a case witness, directed him to reinstate the protection. The court also accepted Mr Nagrale’s apology for flouting court orders and directed him to be sensitive to the issues of the common man and speak with them properly even if they have criminal cases against them. Mr Nagrale, who was personally present in court assured that the protection would be reinstated for the witness free of cost till the end of the trial of the alleged murderers.
A division bench of justices B. R. Gavai and Bharati Dangare was hearing the writ petition filed by Mr Sandeep wherein apart from seeking reinstatement of police protection that had been taken away by Navi Mumbai police since Janaury 31, 2018 for him, he also informed the court that the CP had spoken ill about court orders that confirmed the need for police protection for Sandeep who is also a witness in the trial of his father’s murderers which is on in the sessions court.
Advocate Tanveer Nizam appearing for Mr Sandeep furnished a compact disc containing four minutes of the allegedly derogatory remarks made by the CP against court orders. Upset with what was on the CD, the bench asked for the advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni and CP Nagrale to be present in court in the afternoon session.
While apologising for the remarks made by Mr Nagrale, Kumbhakoni informed the court that he was not aware of the courts directions regarding continuation of police protection for Sandeep and assured the court that the same would be provided till the end of the trial.
Accepting the statement of Mr Nagrale, the bench said, “You are a public officer and should uphold human rights even if it is of a criminal, they have rights too. We expect you to be careful of how you interact with the public.” Thus saying the bench disposed off the petition.
