Supreme Court Orders SIT With Hindu And Muslim Officers To Probe 2023 Maharashtra Clashes

The Supreme Court, while observing that a person after putting on the police uniform must rise above all kinds of biases, today asked for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) with both Hindu and Muslim officers to probe the May 2023 riots in Maharashtra's Akola. One person had died and eight others, including two policemen, were injured, in the violent clash in May 2023 over a social media post in Akola.

While passing this unprecedented order today, the top court pulled up the Maharashtra Police over a "biased" probe into the communal riots. 

"A person after donning the police uniform must rise above all kinds of biasness including on the ground of religion and caste and must discharge duty as per the law," the bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Alok Aradhe observed. 

The order came after a petition alleged the Maharashtra police did not probe an assault case filed by a 17-year-old petitioner, Mohd Afzal Mohd Sharif. 

The plea filed against a Bombay High Court order sought civil and criminal actions against the erring police officers for dereliction of their duties, inaction and biased investigation of communal riots that broke out in Akola city in May 2023.

According to the plea, on May 13, 2023, communal violence broke out in the old city area of Akola, resulting in the death of Vilas Mahadevrao Gaikwad and serious injuries to the petitioner, a 17-year-old.

The petitioner said he is a victim of severe assault during the communal riots. 

The petitioner was admitted to a hospital where the police recorded his statement on May 15, 2023.

Despite having knowledge of the attack on the petitioner, the police did not register any case or investigate although serious cognizable offences were disclosed, the plea alleged. 

The petitioner had approached the High Court, Bombay (Nagpur Bench) citing its constitutional jurisdiction and inherent powers, but the High Court by its order dated July 25, 2024, refused to grant any relief and dismissed the writ petition filed by the petitioner.

Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.

The top court today directed state Home Secretary of Maharashtra to constitute a SIT comprising of senior officers from both Hindu and Muslim communities to undertake the investigation.