The Mumbai Police on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court (HC) that charges under Atrocities Act are added in the FIR against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik based on a complaint by Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede.
An FIR against Malik on charges of defamation and provisions of the Scheduled Tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act was registered in 2022 a day after the Mumbai City District Caste Scrutiny Committee gave a clean chit to Wankhede in a caste certificate row.
Malik and others had alleged that Wankhede was a Muslim and did not belong to Scheduled Caste.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Shivkumar G Dige was hearing a plea by Wankhede filed through advocate Sana Raees Khan, which claimed that despite his complaint, the Goregaon police station in suburban Mumbai neither conducted a probe nor filed a chargesheet against Malik and there was no custodial interrogation due to Malik’s political influence.
The plea also sought direction to police to add section 3 (1) of SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and to submit a report of investigation conducted so far.
Police told to submit probe papers by next date
On Thursday, while hearing Wankhede’s plea seeking a Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI) probe, the HC asked Mumbai police to conclude its investigation within four weeks and submit probe papers by the next date on January 16.
The HC had asked the investigation officer to remain present before it.
The investigating officer informed the court that Sections 3 (1) q and r (giving false and frivolous information and intentionally insulting member of SC/ST community) of SC/ST Act have been added against Malik and the probe is underway.
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