SC asks Maharashtra police to place fresh chargesheet on record of Palghar lynching case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra government to place before it the second chargesheet filed by the police in the Palghar mob-lynching incident that took place in April last year.

A Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan adjourned the hearing by two weeks on the batch of pleas seeking for a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the case.

The Maharashtra government today submitted before the Bench that the second supplementary chargesheet is being filed in the Palghar lynching case, after which the top court asked Maharashtra to place the second chargesheet on record in two weeks.

While opposing a plea seeking a CBI or a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe in the incident, the Maharashtra government had on September 7 last year, told the apex court that investigation into the Palghar case had been completed and that all guilty police officials have been punished or suspended from services.

"Departmental enquiry was ordered against police personnel, who have been prima-facie found negligent and derelict in the performance of their duties in handling the incident and preventing the commission of a crime at and around the time of the incident," the status report of Maharashtra had said.

Earlier, the apex court had asked the Maharashtra government to bring on record the chargesheet and details of the inquiry against police officials in connection with the Palghar mob lynching incident.

On the night of April 16, two sadhus and their driver were travelling from Kandivali in Mumbai to attend a funeral in Gujarat's Surat amid the nationwide lockdown when their vehicle was stopped and they were attacked and killed by a mob in Gadchinchile village of Palghar in the presence of police officers.

( With inputs from ANI )