The Bandra police on Friday registered an FIR against members of Bandra Gymkhana for violating lockdown rules after a video of them allegedly celebrating the club’s 85th anniversary on May 4 surfaced on social media.
The FIR was registered based on an e-complaint filed by Adil Khatri, a lawyer at Bombay High Court and founder of Jai Ho Foundation, on Wednesday. Mr. Khatri said he saw the video on BG Media, the gymkhana’s YouTube channel.
“I am also a member of the gymkhana. According to the directives of the lockdown, no clubs were to be functional, and I knew that permission wouldn’t have been granted for the celebration. Members of the elite class should not be able to get away with this.” Mr. Khatri said.
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The four-minute video, which has now been taken down, included song and dance performances in different locations of the gymkhana, with about 15 people participating.
“No one was wearing a mask except one member, while another had one dangling from her arm. The members were seen holding poles with red and white flags that have ‘The Bandra Gymkhana 85 glorious years 1935-2020’ written on them,” Mr. Khatri said.
Senior police inspector Nikhil Kapse said the FIR was registered on Friday after Mr. Khatri visited the police station to record a formal statement.
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“We are examining the video downloaded by Mr. Khatri to identify the persons involved. We have charged them for committing negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life and malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life under the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant sections of the Maharashtra Police Act,” Mr. Kapse said.