MP Mohan Delkar’s death: Supreme Court upholds quashing of FIR against UT administrator Praful Patel, others

Delkar, 58, a seven-term parliamentarian from Dadra and Nagar Haveli (DNH), was found dead in a room at a hotel in Mumbai’s Marine Drive. On March 9, 2021, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on charges of abetment to suicide and other relevant provisions after Delkar’s family members lodged a complaint on behalf of his son Abhinav.

The complaint was filed against Patel, then DNH district collector Sandeep Kumar Singh, then superintendent of police Sharad Darade, then deputy collector Apurva Sharma, sub-divisional officer Manasvi Jain, police inspector (Silvassa) Manoj Patel, DNH administrative department official Rohit Yadav, political leader Fattesingh Chauhan, and then talathi of Silvassa Dilip Patel for allegedly having abetted the suicide by “misusing their posts and powers and intentionally conspiring and planning against Delkar”.

The FIR had alleged that the MP was under pressure for a year prior to his death and that the DNH administration was harassing him to gain control over his institute, SSR College of Pharmacy and Management, and prevented him from contesting further elections.

In September 2022, however, the high court held, “…we find merit in petition and substance in submissions by petitioners and it is a fit case for the court to exercise its power under section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to prevent an abuse of process of law. The FIR filed by Abhinav Delkar is thus quashed and set aside.”

The accused were booked for offences punishable under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 120B (criminal conspiracy), along with provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.