6 months ago
2
A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai connected Tuesday (November 11, 2025) stayed a peculiar direction by a Division Bench of the court to the Maharashtra authorities to represent a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising elder constabulary officers from some Hindu and Muslim communities to probe allegations of execution and battle made by a 17-year-old Muslim lad successful the backdrop of the Akola communal riots of 2023.
Chief Justice Gavai informed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Maharashtra, that the three-judge Bench was staying the absorption “to represent an SIT comprising elder constabulary officers of some Hindu and Muslim communities” successful the September 2025 judgement of a Division Bench of the tribunal headed by Justice Sanjay Kumar.
Mr. Mehta said the State agrees to each different facet of the September judgment, but this portion.
Recently, a reappraisal filed by the State had led to a divided sentiment betwixt Justice Kumar and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, with the erstwhile upholding the absorption portion the second changing his mind.
The State had argued that the absorption to represent a SIT of elder constabulary officers of some Hindu and Muslim communities would impinge upon the rule of organization secularism and amounted to prejudging communal bias connected the portion of nationalist servants.
In the September verdict, the tribunal had warned against communal colours seeping into the khakhi of the police.
“When members of the constabulary unit don their uniforms, they are required to shed their idiosyncratic predilections and biases, beryllium they religious, racial, casteist oregon otherwise. They indispensable beryllium existent to the telephone of work attached to their bureau and their azygous with implicit and full integrity. Unfortunately, successful the lawsuit connected hand, this did not happen,” Justice Kumar had observed successful the September judgment.
The lawsuit acrophobic the complaints made by a teenager, Mohammad Afzal Mohammad Sharif, who had allegedly witnessed 4 men, 1 of whom was aboriginal identified to person governmental connections, fatally attacking a antheral successful an autorickshaw during riots successful May 2023. The men assaulted the boy, leaving him with caput injuries.
Afzal, with his father, had bravely gone to the constabulary presumption to record a ailment astir the execution and the battle connected himself. However, the constabulary took nary notice. A consequent entreaty to the Superintendent of the Police (SP) of Akola besides came to nary avail.
The execution unfortunate was identified arsenic Vilas Mahadevrao Gaikwad, who had been plying the autorickshaw owned by a Muslim. Afzal had stated that Gaikwad was killed nether the mistaken content that helium was a Muslim.
“If, successful fact, the deceased was truly murdered nether the content that helium belonged to Muslim assemblage and the assailants were not of that community, that was a information that had to beryllium ascertained aft thorough and due investigation,” Justice Kumar had pointed retired successful September.
The Division Bench had past directed the Secretary, Home Ministry, Government of Maharashtra, to represent an SIT comprising elder constabulary officers of “both Hindu and Muslim communities, to undertake an probe into each the allegations made by the appellant, by registering an FIR successful transportation with the battle upon him connected May 13, 2023, and instrumentality due enactment thereon arsenic warranted”. The tribunal had ordered the placing connected grounds of the SIT probe study successful 3 months.
