Mumbai Feb 21 PTI The Bombay High Court on Monday said the Maharashtra government has not done anything substantial with regard to the installation of CCTVs in police stations across the state A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and M N Jadhav said in the past whenever the court asked for CCTV footage in any case the police refused with one excuse or the other Let us be candid and say that this is all done intentionally Justice Kathawalla said The HC said that the Supreme Court had in December 2020 passed an order directing all states to install CCTVs in police stations Nothing substantial has been done in Maharashtra in the past two years Has anyone even bothered to read the Supreme Court order You state government have to comply with the SC order the high court said The whole purpose of the Supreme Court order was to ensure transparency and hence only paper compliance would not suffice the HC said You Maharashtra government need to set up a committee to look into all this otherwise no one would be bothered the court said Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni appearing for the state government told the court that work is being carried out by two contractors to install CCTVs in police stations and to repair the ones which are currently non-functional As per an affidavit submitted by the government in the court on Monday there are 1089 police stations in the state So far 6092 CCTVs have been installed in 547 police stations Out of these cameras 5639 are functional while the remaining are non-functional Kumbhakoni said the contractors have been asked to repair all the non-functional CCTVs in 15 days The bench then said steps are being by taken only after orders are passed and till then nothing is done The HC also said that as per the apex court order the CCTVs have to be placed at all the entry and exit points inside lock-ups in the rooms of the inspector sub-inspectors and other places Kumbhakoni said this was most probably being complied with The court also sought to know from the government as to why the tender to install CCTVs in the police stations was awarded only to two contractors Why cant you government have more than two contractors for the job Would these two contractors be able to do such a major job Are they equipped the HC asked Kumbhakoni informed the bench that an agreement was made with the two contractors in November 2020 to install the CCTVs within a period of 22 weeks and thereafter maintain the same for five years The work of wiring is complete in all police stations However due to the COVID-19 pandemic and non-availability of some hardware parts further work could not be done Hence payment was withheld and was made in January 2022 when the work resumed Kumbhakoni said The HC posted the matter for further hearing on March 2 and asked the government to submit to it documents related to the tender awarded and also the work experience of the two contractors PTI SP GK GK

Mumbai Nov 29 PTI The Bombay High Court on Monday quashed and set aside the order of a single bench of the HC that had refused to restrain Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik from making public statements against the Narcotics Control Bureaus NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede and his family A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Milind Jadhav quashed and set aside the order after Malik and Wankhedes father Dnyandev consented that the single bench order be recalled and Dnyandevs grievances against the minister raised through an interim application on his defamation suit filed against Malik be heard afresh by the HC On November 22 a single bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar held that though Maliks tweets against Wankhede particularly those pertaining to allegations of the NCB officer having submitted a false caste certificate to secure the central government job and having accepted illegal gratification while on duty had stemmed out of malice the minister couldnt be completely prohibited from making comments against a public officer Dnyandev then challenged the singe bench order While hearing the appeal last week a division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Milind Jadhav held that Maliks statements and tweets against Wankhede did seem to be a clear case of malice and logically he should be restrained from making such comments The bench had also asked if it behoved the minister to make such comments without due verification and why he hadnt first approached the caste scrutiny committee with a formal complaint against Wankhede Malik then proposed that the single bench order be recalled His counsel Karl Tamboly told the HC that Malik will consent to quashing of the order he will file a detailed reply to Dnyandevs interim application and he will not make public statements or tweets against the Wankhedes until further hearing He sought that Dnyandevs application be heard afresh by the single bench On Monday senior counsel Birendra Saraf who appeared for Dnyandev told the division bench that his client had consented to the quashing of the November 22 order The court can say by consent of parties quashing of the order Saraf said The division bench permitted Malik to file a fresh reply affidavit to Dnyandevs interim application that seeks among other things that until his suit is heard finally the minister be restrained from making defamatory statements against him and his family Malik will submit his reply by December 9 Dnyandev will then file his rejoinder responding to Maliks affidavit by January 3 The single bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar will then hear the interim application afresh and complete the hearing within 13 weeks the division bench said Until the hearing on the interim application is complete Malik will not make any public statements or tweets against the Wankhedes the division bench said The statement by respondent Malik on not tweeting or making public statements against the Wankhedes shall continue pending disposal of final order on the interim application the bench led by Justice Kathawalla said Malik has levelled a string of allegations against Sameer Wankhede after he led a drug bust raid on a cruise ship last month following which actor Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan and some other people were arrested The minister had alleged that Wakhede was born a Muslim but falsely claimed to belong to a designated scheduled caste to secure his central government job Wankhede has denied the allegations PTI AYA GK GK

Mumbai Nov 24 PTI Dnyandev Wankhede father of NCBs zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Wednesday approached the Bombay High Court challenging its single-judge bench order that had refused to restrain Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik from making comments and putting social media posts against the anti-drug agency officer and his family Dnyandev Wankhede mentioned for urgent hearing his appeal challenging the single bench order and urged a division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Milind Jadhav to grant him relief His appeal is likely to be heard by the division bench on Thursday On Monday a single-judge bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar had refused to grant Wankhede any interim relief in his defamation suit filed against Malik a leader of Maharashtras ruling party NCP Wankhede had cited Maliks tweets and public statements whereby the latter had alleged among other things that Sameer Wankhede had been born a Muslim but had falsely claimed that he belonged to a designated Scheduled Caste SC to secure a central government job He had sought as interim relief that Malik be prohibited from making any defamatory statements or tweets social media posts etc against him Sameer Wankhede or any of their family members Justice Jamdar however had held that imposing such a blanket prohibition upon Malik was not possible in the present case The single bench had held that though it seemed apparent that Maliks statements and tweets against the NCB officer had actuated out of malice and animosity the allegations the minister had made against Sameer Wankhede did not seem prima facie on the face of it to be completely false The single bench however had directed Malik to henceforth make public statements or comments against Wankhede and his family only after reasonable verification of facts In his appeal mentioned before the division bench Dnyandev Wankhede contended that since the single bench had held that Maliks allegations against Sameer Wankhede had stemmed out of malice the minister should have been restrained from making further defamatory comments against him and his family PTI AYA NP NP