Won't interfere in Maharashtra government decision of warning to cop in Maval case: Bombay High Court

The Bombay high court on Thursday refused to interfere with the state's decision of giving an oral warning to Sandeep Karnik, who allegedly opened fire on a mob of protestors in Maval near Pune in 2011, killing a woman, as then superintendent of police, Pune rural.

A division bench of justices Abhay Oka and CV Bhadang, while disposing of a PIL filed by activist IG Khandelwal, noted, "After perusing the records, nothing shows that the deceased died from the bullet fired by Karnik." The court, however, allowed Khandelwal to adopt necessary legal recourse if he wants.

The PIL is seeking direction calling for action against the police officers.

The government has claimed that Karnik had fired two live bullets in the air to disperse the crowd, and later, plastic bullets were fired at the crowd.

During the last hearing, the court had called for the post-mortem and chemical analysis reports of the deceased, and the MG Gaikwad Committee report, along with the annexure and original filed on the disciplinary inquiry against the officers to verify the petitioner's claims.

The government had earlier informed the court in an affidavit that an explanation was sought from four officers and, after perusal of their replies, a warning was issued to Karnik and disciplinary proceedings initiated against the other three — inspectors Ashok Patil and Yashwant Gawari and assistant inspector Ganesh Mane.