The Bombay High Court has provided big relief to former DGP and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey (IPS:1986:MH) by quashing two FIRs registered against him and several others in 2024.
The court held that the criminal proceedings initiated at the instance of businessman Sanjay Punamiya were “manifestly attended with mala fides” and amounted to an abuse of the legal process. It observed that the complaints appeared to be the outcome of a “desperate and vengeful mind” and were aimed at triggering a “fishing inquiry” in a matter that did not require investigation.
Apart from Pandey, the court also quashed FIRs against retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Sardar Patil, Police Inspector Manohar Patil, advocate Shekhar Jagtap, builder Shyamsundar Agrawal and members of his family.
Punamiya had alleged that Pandey and others were part of a conspiracy to falsely implicate him in criminal cases in 2021 and had also accused them of intimidation and document fabrication. However, the High Court found no material to support the allegations and noted that there was a long-standing dispute between Punamiya and the Agrawal family.
The court also observed that the allegations were vague, lacked specific details and appeared to be an afterthought, particularly in view of the three-year delay in filing the FIRs.
Emphasising that legal processes cannot be misused for personal motives, the High Court held that the registration of the FIRs was an abuse of the process of law and ordered that the proceedings be quashed.
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