Asking the petitioner to approach Magistrate's Court, the Bombay High Court today disposed of a PIL seeking CBI inquiry into police firing at Maval in Pune district in which three farmers were killed in August 2011.
The division bench headed by justice A M Khanwilkar was hearing the petition filed by I G Khandelwal, seeking probe by the CBI or state CID and registration of FIR against police officers, including the then Superintendent of Police Sandeep Karnik who had led the police team.
On August 9, 2011, a mob of locals descended onto Pune-Mumbai Expressway at Maval, blocking it for two hours, protesting the government's decision of laying a closed pipeline to supply water from Pavna dam to Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Police opened fire, resulting in three deaths.
At the last hearing in the High Court, government had justified the firing, saying that police had followed rules, and agitators were "very aggressive". "Police van was surrounded by them. Police resorted to lathi-charge, used tear gas and rubber bullets, but agitators were beyond control. Hence, police had fired upon them," the government lawyer said.
A senior police officer went to the agitators with "folded hands" and requested to call it off, but he was beaten up, said the government lawyer.
After watching video footage of the incident, the local Magistrate had ordered registration of FIR against the policemen under section 302 IPC (murder).
But the High Court today said it would not go into this aspect, and the petitioner may move the Magistrate's Court to seek inquiry by independent agency.
