The Maharashtra Police informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that 18 police officers have been punished for negligence and dereliction of duty for their inability to prevent the lynching of two sadhus by a mob at Palghar during the national lockdown.
A short affidavit filed by the police said a departmental enquiry prima facie found that they did not act in time to prevent the incident. The punishment ranges from dismissal to reverting to minimal pay for a specific number of years and even compulsory retirement.
Police is opposing a plea filed by the relatives of the priests to transfer the case to the CBI. An earlier affidavit by the the Maharashtra government had informed the court that a specialised unit of the State CID was probing the case since April 20 and two chargesheets against 126 accused had been filed.
The court had ordered the State to place the chargesheets on record before it.
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The affidavit by the State had said the case was transferred to the State CID unit considering the need for fairness, transparency in investigation and the large number of accused involved.
The petitioners want a stay of all proceedings in any other court, including the Bombay High Court, with regard to this case. They have also sought a time-bound probe and have laid claim to the land on which the incident happened, to construct a memorial for the two sadhus.
