Expressing concern over Maharashtra accounting for the highest number of custodial deaths in the country over the last 15 years, the Bombay High court asked the state government to take immediate preventive steps.

“Apply your mind….ensure that custodial deaths do not occur,” said the division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade.

The court was hearing a petition alleging death of a minor, Agnelo Valdaris, in Wadala police lock-up last April.

Advocate Rebecca Gonsalves, representing CBI, said the agency had sent an investigation report to its headquarters in Delhi for approval.

The bench gave two weeks’ time to CBI to submit the report to the court. “We expect a positive response from CBI,” it said.

“It is shocking to note that even after orders were passed by the High Court in August last year, the incidents of custodial death are on rise in Maharashtra. We have observed that the victims of custodial death are those who are held for trivial offences,” the judges noted.

The bench had said in an earlier order that as far as possible, interrogation should not be conducted at night.

Today’s order reiterated the point.

Advocate Yug Chaudhry, acting as amicus curiae (friend of the court), pointed out the data by the National Crime Records Bureau which says that between 1999 and 2013 there were 333 custodial deaths in Maharashtra ?- over 23 per cent of all the custodial deaths in India.

“There were 45 FIRs; only 19 charge-sheets were filed and nobody was convicted. Despite the Supreme Court’s orders about norms to be followed while arresting a person, the police were in violation,” said advocate Chaudhry.

On August 13 last year, the HC had directed the government to install CCTV cameras at police stations and ensure that FIRs are registered if accused die in custody.

Today, public prosecutor Mankuwar Deshmukh submitted that government had earmarked funds for CCTV cameras. As a pilot project, it had identified 25 police stations in Pune and Mumbai regions for CCTV installation.

Aadesh Shrivastava, who has been fighting cancer at a Mumbai hospital has been stopped giving chemotherapy by doctors.

Aadesh, 48, has been in the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri for the last 44 days for cancer treatment.

“He has been undergoing chemotherapy but he is not responding to it. So, the doctors have stopped giving him chemotherapy. They have an alternate theory. The doctors are trying to do their best and Aadesh is fighting it bravely,” Aadesh’s brother-in-law and composer Lalit Pandit said.

His colleagues from the industry including Amitabh Bachchan and superstar Shah Rukh Khan are in touch to keep a check on his health.

“Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan) has been keeping a check on his health regularly over phone. He has been very helpful. Besides, Shah Rukh Khan had come to visit him too. Tina Ambani has visited him twice and she is taking special care too,” Lalit said.

“People from the music industry like Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan also have been visiting him regularly. Shekar Kapur, Govind Nihalani, Poonam Dhillon and others had come to see him too,” he said.

Aadesh has composed music for hit films like Chalte Chalte, Baabul, Baghban, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Raajneeti and Dev among others.

Residents of a village in drought-hit Marathwada’s Beed district have threatened self-immolation to protest non-availability of drought relief measures.

A resolution was adopted at a meeting of the Gangamasla village gram sabha recently that the villagers will commit ‘mass suicide’ in front of the gram panchayat office on “Pola” day (bull-worshipping festival celebrated by farmers) if no help was forthcoming. The festival will be celebrated on September 12.

A copy of the resolution has been sent to the district collector.

Gangamasla village, with a population of over 2000, has been facing acute agrarian crisis and drinking water shortage since the last few years, a villager said.

The village is located around 12 km from the Majalgaon dam.

The villagers are waiting for the Marathwada Grameen Bank to clear their new loan files and also to restructure their old crop loans.

Incidentally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was in Beed district, as part of his three-day Marathwada visit to review drought situation in the region.

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray has pulled up his party ministers for “not doing enough to help” people affected by water crisis in Marathwada region and asked them to “gear up” by visiting the drought-hit areas.

According to a senior Sena leader, Thackeray “fired” his party ministers at his residence ‘Matoshree’ on Tuesday for “not doing enough to help people affected by water crisis.”

“Uddhavji has instructed party leaders to push Shiv Jal Kranti Yojana (Water Revolution Scheme) across the Marathwada region and has also decided to tour the region in the second week of this month,” the leader said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is on a tour of Marathwada and is visiting drought-affected villages. He had also announced holding of a Cabinet meeting at Aurangabad this month, but the date is yet to be finalised.

Other BJP ministers, including Pankaja Munde and Babanrao Lonikar, have accompanied the CM on his visit to Aurangabad, Beed and Osmanabad districts.

Reportedly upset with the absence of party ministers in the drought-hit regions of the state, Thackeray had called Sena ministers to ‘Matoshree’ on Tuesday late evening.

“We have worked much more in the Marathwada region. But, today an image has been created that the Sena has ignored farmers,” the leader said.

Meanwhile, senior Sena leader and state Industries Minister Subhash Desai said that all works being implemented in the drought-hit regions, including the ‘Jalyukt Shivar’, were schemes of the state government.

“In the meeting with Uddhavji, it was decided to implement the party’s own Shiv Jal Kranti scheme in Aurangabad and Jalna in the first phase. In the second phase, we will cover all eight districts of Marathwada region,” Desai said.

Santosh Bhambare, former Sena legislator from Jalna district, created more than 30 bandharas (small dams) last year, which held water till February this year, he said.

Sitting party legislator Arjun Khotkar too is creating around 80 bandharas in his constituency in the same district, he said.

Criticising Thane police’s lackadaisical approach in not taking timely action on an RTI activist’s request for protection, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) has ordered the government to pay Rs. 10 lakh to the victim seriously injured in an attack on him.

MSHRC chairman Justice SR Bannurmath, while passing the order, also asked the state Home department to issue appropriate directions to all police officials to take serious note of the requests made for police protection, as per the government guidelines.

The Home department should also issue the circular/notice (of the government regarding protection to people over threat perception) to all police stations without any prejudice, said the order.

Arun Sawant, a resident of Ambernath township in Thane district, had filed a complaint with MSHRC saying that he had requested Thane police to provide protection to him, citing threat to his life from some anti-social elements.

But, his request was turned down and few days later he (Sawant) was shot at by some unknown men following which he suffered injuries in his spine leaving him bed-ridden forever.

“Sawant had met and requested Police Commissioner of Thane on February 9, 2010. But no timely action was taken on his request following which he was shot by few assailants on February 26, 2010,” MSHRC observed in its order.

“This omission in the part of the duty came at a time when lot of RTI activists were being attacked that time,” said Justice Bannurmath.

“In view of the findings of the Commission, the apparent apathy and negligence of the concerned police in not providing timely security to the complainant thereby rendering him invalid due to attack, the Commission deems it proper to award an interim compensation of Rs. 10 lakh to the victim,” the MSHRC said.

“The state shall pay the same within four weeks from the date of the receipt of the order and submit compliance report in four weeks thereafter,” it added.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday said while there was a “laudable intention” behind the recent police raids on hotels in suburban Malwani following complaints of a prostitution racket operating there, innocent persons cannot be harassed and their privacy should not be invaded.

A division bench of Justices VM Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi was hearing a petition filed by Khar resident Sumeer Sabharwal, terming the raids as “illegal, intrusive and unconstitutional” and seeking action against police officials involved.

Public prosecutor Sandeep Shinde told the court that police received complaints from local MLAs and residents that hotels in the area were being used to run prostitution racket.

“The complaints claimed that girls living in the area were being abused by miscreants. Hence higher authorities directed the local police to take action,” he said, adding that during raids the police first checked the hotel registers and then called couples who had given fake names.

The court, however, sought to know under what rules or provision of law, hotels are asked (by authorities) to take down the names and copy of identity cards of those persons who want to book a room.

“Obviously it is a laudable intention. There is no doubt that the police’s intention was to regulate and find out if there was any prostitution racket. But, at the same time care should be taken to ensure that innocent people are not harassed and their privacy is not invaded. Police cannot take a moral stand,” Justice Kanade said.

“Which policy decision or rule authorises the police to ask the hotel to register the identity of the person who books a room? Any action of the executive should be supported by legal provisions. We want to know after receiving such complaints what procedure is followed before taking action,” the court said.

The High Court directed the police to file an additional affidavit on this by September 22.

The petition also sought investigation by an independent agency into the incident and for it to be monitored by the HC.

On August 6, the police had cracked down on hotels and bars in Malwani area of Mumbai and imposed fine on several couples on charges of indecency.