On Monday, Senior Advocate Manjula Rao told the High Court of Bombay that an FIR should have been registered against five policemen involved in the alleged encounter of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case.

She argued that Shinde’s parents had submitted written complaints raising suspicions about his death, which should have led to formal police action.

Rao, appointed as amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist in the case, made these submissions before a division bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere & Justice Dr Neela Gokhale. An amicus curiae helps the court compile facts, research relevant laws, & provide an independent, non-partisan opinion.

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Shinde, a school attendant, was arrested in August last year for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls inside a school toilet. He was killed in an alleged encounter on September 23 while being transported from Taloja prison for questioning.

Rao emphasised that the judicial magistrate’s inquiry report into Shinde’s extra-judicial killing, along with his father’s complaints to various police authorities—including the director general of police, commissioner of police (Thane), & Kalwa police station—should have been treated as grounds for filing an FIR.

Rao pointed out that after the incident, the investigation into Shinde’s custodial death was transferred from the crime branch to the State Crime Investigation Department (CID) since the accused officers belonged to the crime branch. “It is presumed that all documents & complaints submitted by the parents were available with the CID during the transfer,” she added.

Rao further asserted that a plain reading of the parents’ letter to the police revealed allegations of cognisable offences. “Once a cognisable offence is disclosed, it is not at the discretion of the police to decide whether to register an FIR. It is mandatory under the law,” she said, referring to Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which mandates FIR registration upon receipt of information about a cognisable offence.

“It is not necessary for the police to verify the authenticity of information before registering an FIR. An investigation follows the registration, after which the police may decide whether to file a chargesheet or close the case due to lack of merit,” Rao explained.

She also cited a Supreme Court ruling in the People’s Union for Civil Liberties case, which mandates the immediate registration of an FIR upon receiving information about a custodial death. “The accidental death report & the information provided by the family should have been converted into an FIR,” she stressed.

Rao is expected to continue her submissions on Tuesday.

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