Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court is likely to pronounce its order in a defamation case filed against Assistant Commissioner of Police Vasant Dhoble. Two sisters, who were booked under the Prevention of Illegal Trafficking Act (PITA), had filed the defamation suit against Mr Dhoble, who heads the Mumbai Police's Social Service branch. In their plea, they have demanded a compensation of Rs. 2 crore from the policeman for defamation and wrongful detention.
The complainants were booked under PITA at a raid on June 4 by Mr Dhoble's team at a restaurant in suburban Mumbai.
Mr Dhoble, who is currently the face of moral policing in Mumbai, is facing flak for curbing Mumbai's nightlife by enforcing 'outdated' laws. His track record in the police force has many blemishes.
He was suspended in 1989 for accepting a bribe in Pune. In 1994, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined a lakh for his role in a custodial death. He was dismissed from the force but reinstated in 1996, after his jail sentence was dismissed by the Mumbai High Court.
A departmental inquiry against him is still pending in this case - the Supreme Court had ordered this.