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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has quashed a false investigation conducted by a police officer against a disabled employee of the National Defence Academy (NDA).

The court quashed the First Information Report (FIR) and subsequent proceedings against the staffer, citing mental agony and ill-treatment.

A bench comprising Justice Nitin W Sambre and Justice RN Laddha ordered compensation of Rs 25,000 to be paid to the employee, with the amount to be recovered from the salary of the investigating officer.

However, the counsel for the petitioner magnanimously stated that he was not interested in the amount of compensation and that could be made over to the Legal Services Authority, however, the Investigating Officer should realize his mistake which should be pinching for bias and malafide criminal prosecution against the petitioner.

The court criticized the investigating officer, Anand Pagare, for disregarding communication from the hospital verifying the employee's disability certificate. The disabled employee, Kamal Tiwari, had provided a 41% disability certificate issued by Sassoon Hospital, Pune, to the NDA.

However, the hospital initially reported that it couldn't find the original record, leading to a police complaint in 2016 accusing Tiwari of producing a forged certificate. Subsequently, the hospital confirmed the authenticity of the certificate, but Pagare ignored this information and filed a chargesheet in 2017.

In its order, the court described Pagare's actions as causing mental agony, lowering dignity, and ill-treating the petitioner. The court awarded compensation to Tiwari and directed the amount to be paid to the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority within six months. The court specified that the state would recover the compensation from Pagare's salary.

Tiwari's advocate, Jagdish Reddy, argued that Pagare's actions were vindictive, causing significant harm to Tiwari. Pagare's advocate, Satyavrat Joshi, expressed regret for the "bonafide mistake" and tendered an unconditional apology to the court and Tiwari. The court discharged the contempt notice issued to Pagare, warning him to be more diligent in the future.

Case Title: Dr. Kamal Chandra Tiwari Vs. The State of Maharashtra & Anr.