- Bombay High Court quashed criminal case against former DGP Sanjay Pandey.
- Court cited delay in FIR and personal grudges as reasons.
- Allegations against Pandey deemed vague and lacking particulars.
- Complainant’s credibility questioned due to prior criminal cases.
The Bombay High Court has quashed a criminal case registered against Sanjay Pandey, providing major relief to the former Maharashtra Director General of Police and ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner.
The case alleged that Pandey had pressured businessman Sanjay Mishrimal Punamiya to file a false complaint against Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The court’s decision also brought relief to advocate Shekhar Jagtap, who was named in the matter.
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Defence Cites Delay In FIR
During the hearing, Pandey’s counsel argued that there had been an unexplained and significant delay in registering the case against him.
According to the defence, the FIR was lodged in 2024 in connection with an alleged incident dating back to 2021, without any satisfactory explanation for the delay.
The former police chief contended that the case had been filed solely with the intention of targeting him.
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HC Terms FIRs ‘Abuse Of Process Of Law’
The Bombay High Court termed the multiple FIRs filed against Pandey and others as the result of “personal grudges” and described the criminal proceedings as an “abuse of the process of law.”
A bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Suman Shyam, while dismissing the cases, noted that the allegations made by complainant businessman Sanjay Mishrimal Punamiya were “vague and lacking particulars.”
The court further observed that the claims were speculative and had already been disproved through a ‘C’ Summary closure report submitted by the police.
Businessman Alleged Pressure To File False Complaint
The FIR had been registered based on a complaint filed by a businessman, who alleged that Pandey pressured him by threatening to reopen an old case against him unless he gave a false statement against Fadnavis and Shinde in an alleged Urban Land Ceiling scam.
Punamiya had alleged that he was coerced into filing a false complaint against the two senior Maharashtra leaders. The complainant also claimed that forged appointment letters were used to falsely portray Jagtap as a special public prosecutor in certain extortion and fraud cases to ensure his prolonged judicial custody.
However, the High Court quashed the proceedings, effectively bringing an end to the criminal case against Pandey.
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Court Questions Credibility Of Complainant
The high court rejected these allegations, observing that the complainant himself was facing multiple criminal cases involving extortion, coercion, and theft of confidential state documents. The bench said this had resulted in “deep-seated enmity” between the parties.
The court further remarked that Punamiya appeared to be a “habitual litigant” and noted that contempt proceedings had earlier been initiated against him in another matter.
“The allegations in both the crimes are the outcome of a desperate and vengeful mind and the second respondent seeks a fishing inquiry into a matter which does not require any inquiry at all,” the bench stated in its order.
Emphasising that criminal law cannot be misused for ulterior motives, the court observed that proceedings motivated by malafide intent deserve to be quashed.
“The process of law cannot be misutilised for oblique purposes and a criminal proceeding which is manifestly attended with malafide can be quashed,” the court said while setting aside all criminal proceedings arising from the FIRs.
With the high court’s ruling, all criminal cases linked to the allegations against Pandey, Jagtap, and other accused now stand quashed.
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