Bombay High Court to hear plea seeking case against cops for assaulting lawyer

The Bombay High Court will urgently hear a petition demanding registration of an FIR against several policemen from Vita police station in Maharashtra's Sangli district for allegedly assaulting a lawyer, an incident that has triggered protests by the local bar and intermittent strikes by lawyers.

Advocate Aniket Nikam, representing petitioner Vishal Prakash Kumbhar, told a bench of Justices Ravindra V Ghuge and Gautam Ankhad that the court registry was initially reluctant to register the plea, as matters from the region were to be heard by a new circuit bench beginning August 18. However, he urged urgent intervention, citing mounting law-and-order concerns, with both lawyers and supporters of the accused policemen staging protests.

The bench agreed to take up the matter on August 12.

According to the plea, the incident occurred on August 2 around 11,45 pm, when a group of Vita policemen allegedly loitered outside Kumbhar’s home, chatting loudly, clicking selfies, and disturbing the neighbourhood. Kumbhar’s 82-year-old father requested them to maintain peace, but tensions escalated. When Kumbhar began recording the scene, the policemen allegedly dragged him into a police jeep, hurled abuses, and took him to the station.

The petition claims Kumbhar was illegally detained, forced to delete the video, and coerced into handing over his CCTV DVR under threats of a false FIR against him and his brother. His brother was allegedly compelled to sign a blank paper. The DVR was later seized from his home by two policemen.

Kumbhar, 41, said he has repeatedly complained to senior police officials, seeking an FIR against officers Jayshree Kamble, Mahesh Sankpal, Mahesh Deshmukh, and about 10 others from Vita police station, but no case has been registered so far.

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