NEW DELHI: The Maharashtra govt has approached Supreme Court for a review of its direction for setting up of a special investigation team (SIT) “comprising senior police officials from both Hindu and Muslim communities” to probe two Akola riot-related offences – a murder and an assault – and said dividing the uniformed force on religious lines is against the secular policies of the state.One Mohd Afzal Mohd Sharif had claimed that he witnessed the murder of a Hindu, who was driving an auto-rickshaw owned by a Muslim, by assailants who later assaulted him in Akola on May 13, 2023 when the town was witnessing a riot over a social media post on the Prophet. He alleged that police did not take prompt action to register FIR. He had petitioned the Bombay high court but police said it had probed the crime and filed a chargesheet.When the HC refused to entertain his petition, Sharif moved SC. A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kumar allowed his appeal and directed the Maharashtra home secretary “to constitute an SIT, comprising senior police officers from both Hindu and Muslim communities, to undertake an investigation into all the allegations made by the appellant by registering an FIR in connection with the assault upon him on May 13, 2023, and take appropriate action thereon as warranted. ” It also asked the state to take disciplinary action against the erring police officers for laxity and dereliction of duty.Maharashtra sought a open court hearing and said it will implement SC’s order and set up the SIT for fresh probe into the incident. However, it expressed strong reservation claiming “it is inconsistent with the secular character of Bharat and the foundational principles governing public institutions”.”It is a settled constitutional position that once an officer dons the uniform of the police force, he or she is bound by the duties of neutrality, impartiality, and lawful action. A police officer has no religion, no caste, no political affiliation, only a solemn duty to uphold the rule of law, discharge public functions with impartiality, and maintain public order with integrity,” the Devendra Fadnavis-led govt said. “By directing a religiously segregated composition of the SIT, the judgment inadvertently undermines the integrity and neutrality of the police force. It risks setting a precedent whereby religious identity may be factored into official administrative composition, thereby compromising the very secular character of the Constitution,” the state said. “Further, such a direction casts aspersions on officers of the state on communal lines without affording them a hearing or considering their service record, and thereby violates the principles of justice and trust in public administration,” it said, adding that the purpose of the review petition is solely intended to “preserve the constitutional ethos of secular administration and to avoid potential long-term consequences arising from this direction”.
