Act against Pune SHO who refused to file FIR after ‘attack on Muslim family’, says Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered the Pune Police Commissioner to take “stringent action” against a station house officer who refused to file a case after two Muslim brothers alleged they were attacked for their religious identity, Live Law reported.

The case pertained to an altercation that took place in April when two brothers named Karan and Harsh Keswani were riding a two-wheeler in the Bhawani Peth area. The siblings alleged that a quarrel erupted between them and a man named Shoaib Umar Sayyad after he objected to Harsh honking his vehicle horn.

The Keswani brothers alleged that Harsh was severely injured in the attack by Sayyad and his brother, according to Pune Mirror.

However, Sayyad also claimed that members of the Keswani family brutally assaulted him and his brother, leaving them injured, Live Law reported. He alleged that they had been beaten up on account of their religion.

Sayyad said that when he filed a police complaint, Station House Officer Shashikant Chavan of the Khadak police station refused to file a first information report on the grounds that the Keswani family had already lodged a case against him and his brother for alleged attempt to murder.

On Tuesday, a division bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Gautam Ankhad said that despite a clear order passed in the...

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