[Muslim Man Forced To Chant Jai Shree Ram] Transferred FIRs To Another Police Station: Maha Govt Tells Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday accepted the statement of the Maharashtra government that it has transferred First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged against a group of students, who were booked for allegedly assaulting a Muslim man and forcing him to chant "Jai Shree Ram."In his petition, the petitioner - Asif Shaikh has claimed that while he was returning to his home in Mumbai from his native place in Kankavli, a group of students assaulted him after realising that he was a Muslim and later forced him and his family to chant "Jai Shree Ram." It is the petitioners allegation that Union Minister Narayan Rane's son and Maharashtra's Cabinet Minister Nitesh Rane, had come to the Kankavli police station on the relevant day, when he (petitioner) visited the station for registering an FIR. He alleged that Nitesh "influenced" the police.On Wednesday, Additional Public Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde told the bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Dr Neela Gokhale that the FIRs have been transferred from Kankavli police station to Kudal police station.To this, advocate Gautam Kanchanpurkar representing the petitioner Asif Shaikh, pointed out that the State has transferred the FIRs only after the judges had suggested to, since the petitioner apprehends that the probe may be influenced since Nitesh is a sitting MLA from Kankavli."But now they have transferred the FIRs to Kudal Police Station. This is the constituency of his (Nitesh's) brother (Nilesh Rane)," Kanchanpurkar told the judges. However, Justice Mohite-Dere interjected, "Okay then why not in Mumbai? Shall they transfer it to Mumbai?"To this, Kanchanpurkar did not respond and thus, the bench proceeded to pass an order, recording that the State has transferred the probe in this case from Kankavli police station to Kudal. The bench was hearing a petition filed by Asif Shaikh and his wife, both seeking registration of FIR and monitoring probe in their complaint against Nitesh and the students, who harrassed their family while they were travelling in a Mumbai-bound train. As per the petitioners, they boarded a passenger train from Kankavli to reach his home in Chembur, Mumbai. However, their journey turned out to be a nightmare, with around eight students including a girl, started creating chaos in the train and on being requested not to make noise, since Shaikh's two daughters were scared, the students allegedly asked Shaikh about his religion, since he spoke in Hindi.On being told that he was a Muslim, the petition, stated that the students, all of whom were Hindus, started making religious slurs against Shaikh and his family and harassed them. They even forced the family to chant "Jai Shri Ram." The students, further told the family that all those, who do not chant this religious slogan, they have no right to live in India and must in fact, go and settle in Pakistan, the petitioner alleged.Notably, a bench led by Justice Mohite-Dere had initially granted police protection to the petitioner family. In December, too, the judges had ordered the police to provide protection to the Shaikh, who was again travelling to his native place in Kankavli for attending a religious function. However, on December 19, Kanchanpurkar told the judges that his client "escaped" a deadly "planned" attack at Kankavli, when he was out for purchasing milk. The counsel had informed the judges that despite clear orders for protection, only one officer escorted his client from the railway station to his home for nearly 3 to 5 hours. And it is during this time, he was attacked and when he went to lodge a complaint the local police did not register the same. In a hearing held on December 19, the bench was irked to note this and had told the police that if anything happens to the petitioner, the police will be held responsible. However, when the matter was once again heard on Tuesday (Jan 28), the judges opined that there was no material to show that the incident of speeding car was actually a "planned attack" on the petitioner and said that it could have been a random motorists driving his car rashly. The bench stated that the petitioner failed to show any material to substantiate his claims of being attacked by any of the persons related to the FIRs. It therefore, refused to entertain the said prayer. Further, the judges noted the submission made by Shinde that the latest "threat perception" report of the Mumbai Police was "negative" which would mean that the petitioner no longer needs any police protection. Taking note of all these facts, the bench disposed of the petition.Case title: Asif Shaikh vs. StateCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Bom) 38

[Muslim Man Forced To Chant Jai Shree Ram] Transferred FIRs To Another Police Station: Maha Govt Tells Bombay HC

Narsi Benwal

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