Bombay HC pulls up government over Manju Shetye’s death inside Byculla jail

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Monday pulled up the state government over the investigation into the death of woman jail inmate Manju Shetye, who was allegedly beaten to death by six prison officials on June 23 in Byculla women’s prison. The court said, “By showing Manjula’s death as accidental, you wanted to close the matter.”

On Monday, the public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh submitted investigation report of crime branch. The court expressed its displeasure over the report, saying that “this report contains history and nothing new. You have given the same information, which you had given on the first hearing. We want to know what progress you have made.”

“In public domain, messages are being circulated that Dr.Vishwas Roke (who submitted autopsy report) has been suspended, but your own report doesn’t say so,” the court observed. A division bench of Justice R.M. Savant and Justice Sadhana Jadhav was hearing a petition filed by Pune resident Pradeep Bhalekar who sought independent CID inquiry into the Manjula Shetye’s death.

The court told the state, “After the death of Manju Shetye, the concerned judicial magistrate should have been informed, and the magistrate should have conducted a parallel inquiry. But you informed him (magistrate) late.”

The court also observed, “During the last hearing, we asked you why inmates had to registered FIR and you wrote a proposal to magistrate.” The court said that the jail superintendent submitted only the FIR and post-mortem report to it and he should have provided other documents too. The court also directed crime branch to provide CCTV footage, video CD of autopsy and statements of inmates as well as inquest panchanama to the magistrate. The court warned that if the crime branch fails to do so, then necessary action would be taken against the officers.