HC seeks report on pending warrants

Mumbai, April 23 Alarmed with the huge number of pending non-bailable warrants in the state, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the district and sessions judges to have a monthly meeting with the respective police chiefs and superintendents of police and file a report within three months.
Advocate General Ravi Kadam assured the court that a mechanism will be devised to reduce the number of pending warrants. The court directed that meetings to be conducted and execution of warrants be monitored in districts.
On Tuesday, the Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor held a meeting with Kadam, public prosecutor Satish Borulkar, Additional Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla and Principal Secretary (Home) P Subramaniam in this regard.
The move has come after the court noticed earlier this month that a whopping 4,71,451 non-bailable warrants are pending with the police across Maharashtra with Mumbai alone accounting for 89,914 of those.
A division bench of Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice A P Deshpande on April 9 had directed Kadam to assist the court to “evolve a mechanism” which would reduce the time in execution of warrants issued by courts. The court had observed that this is very alarming and “in such situation it would be difficult for magistrates and sessions judges to dispose of matter expeditiously.”
“This problem needs to be addressed jointly by the judiciary and the executive,” the court had observed.
In February, the court had issued a direction to the Registrar General of the HC asking to know the number of warrants issued by various district and magistrates’ courts in the state that were yet to be executed by the police. As per an updated list submitted this month by M L Tahiliyani, registrar (inspection), there are 89,914 pending warrants in Mumbai, followed by Pune with 45,347 and Yavatmal with 37,423 pendings warrants.
The court’s direction came while hearing a petition filed by Mazgaon-resident Sheriar Patel who had filed a petition in 1995 alleging a petroleum adulteration racket run by a local hotel owner Parmanand Thakur. The police had stated that Thakur had secured bail while three out of the ten accused were absconding.
On February 6, the court was told that the NBWs issued against the absconding accused were still pending. The case will come up for hearing on July 30.
Express news service
Posted online: Thursday , April 24, 2008 at 01:26:49Updated: Thursday , April 24, 2008 at 01:26:49