HC asks cops not to take coercive steps against lawyer

The Bombay High Court has directed the city police not to take coercive steps against a lawyer who claimed in a petition that he was assaulted and framed in a false case for filing a PIL against "nefarious" activities of local goons.
The direction was given on October 28 by a bench of Justices V M Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi who heard a plea filed by the lawyer Charanjeet Chandrapal seeking quashing of a case against him under Prevention of Atrocities Act.
The petition for quashing the "false" case as well as the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the lawyer against the anti-social elements were heard simultaneously.

The HC also directed the Mumbai Commissioner of Police to personally look into the allegations of illegal activities carried out by anti-social elements and depute police force in Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar located between Sion and Wadala area.
The bench also directed the police chief to file a compliance report on or before November 18.
The judges directed the Police Commissioner to provide adequate protection to the lawyer and residents of the locality from anti-social elements.

The court noted the allegations of the petitioner that there were a lot of nefarious activities in G T B Nagar and adjoining slums such as drug peddling and theft of property.

"Prima facie, we are satisfied that the above complaint is a direct result of the complaint filed by the petitioner and it is filed as a counter blast," the Judges observed.
The lawyer said he had filed a police complaint earlier against certain people for indulging in anti-social activities in Antop Hill area here.
Chandrapal submitted that he was assaulted on October 14 by some unidentified persons with sharp-edged weapons when he got down from his car at Wadala. He sustained serious injuries on face and lips, as a result of which he was administered 26 stitches in hospital.
According to the lawyer, the attack on him was a fallout of a complaint he had lodged against the goons of the area, who were indulging in drug peddling, car thefts, house break-in and other crimes.

In the PIL, Chandrapal had alleged that anti-social elements were indulging in illegal activities in Antop Hill, following which police had initiated action against the offenders. However, this angered the goons who retaliated by assaulting him, his petition alleged.
The lawyer said that after the recent assault on him, a "false" criminal case was registered against him on a complaint by the same persons, who attacked him.