Mumbai: Kurla businessman to drag state to court for wrongful arrest

Ganesh Nakathe a smalltime social activist and businessman from Kurla had to spend four days behind bars in an alleged fake extortion case registered by the Kurla police in 2016 before securing bail And thats when during his stay in Arthur Road jail he said he found out that many who had been acquitted by courts were languishing inside with no support or compensation for the wrongful confinementGanesh NakatheHe has now issued a legal notice through his lawyer to the state chief secretary and additional chief secretary Home after the state home department failed to respond to his RTI application seeking status update on the formation of a Standing Committee comprising senior officers of the police and prosecution departments as directed by the Supreme Court in 2014 Nakathe said the Home department failed to reply despite the State Information Commission passing an order directing it toAlso read I can never fully recover from ordeal says man who was wrongly arrested in Preeti Rathi caseGanesh Nakathe found during his stay in Arthur Road jail that many who had been acquitted by courts were languishing inside with no support or compensation for the wrongful confinement Representation picWhat the SC had saidIn the notice Nakathes lawyer Rajeshwar Panchal had given seven days to senior bureaucrats to respond Their silence indicates noncompliance of the SC order and that is a violation of citizens civil liberties and therefore contempt of court We will file a petition soon said PanchalTalking about the 2014 SC order Panchal said it categorically stated Every acquittal should be understood as a failure of the justice delivery system in serving the cause of justice Likewise every acquittal should ordinarily lead to the inference that an innocent person was wrongfully prosecuted It is therefore essential that every state put in place a procedural mechanism to ensure that the cause of justice is served which would simultaneously safeguard the interests of the innocent It is considered essential to direct the Home department of every state to examine all orders of acquittal and record reasons for the failure of each prosecution case A standing committee of senior officers of the police and prosecution departments should be vested with aforesaid responsibility The consideration at the hands of the above committeehellip whether sheer negligence or culpable lapses those responsible must suffer departmental action The above mechanism would infuse seriousness in investigating and prosecuting duties and ensure that investigation and prosecution are purposeful and decisiveVictim of police atrocityNakathe said I was booked in a false case of extortion by certain senior police officers who were upset with my raising concern over corrupt activities through numerous RTI applicationsI felt so humiliated for being tagged as an accused with no evidence against mehellip the police were quick to file a charge sheet at Kurla court where the trial is yet to begin After I moved a petition in Bombay High Court for quashing the false FIR against me the local police approached me and asked me to withdraw my petition he addedPanchal said Nakathe is a victim of police atrocity it is very evident that even today they dont comply with SC directions which clearly state that the provisions laid under section 41 A of the Criminal Procedure Code should be adhered to strictly where arrest is not required in cases of offence that attract less than seven years of imprisonmentWhen contacted Lalasaheb Shetye senior inspector at Kurla police station said I dont remember the case against the petitioner offhand and will have to revert backAlso view Pallavi Vikamseys tragic death What we know so far