HC disposes petition against case transfer in Girish Mahajan extortion case

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court recently disposed of a petition challenging the transfer of investigation of a case against Girish Mahajan, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and state rural development minister, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). However, the CBI already filed a closure report in 2023, so the court on Wednesday directed the petitioner to file appropriate proceedings before the trial court and contest the same.

The petition, filed by Vijay Bhaskarrao Patil, a director of the Jalgaon Jilka Maratha Vidya Prasarak Sahakari Samaj, an educational society, is related to a 2020 case against Mahajan and 28 others on charges of causing grievous hurt to extract a confession, kidnapping, extortion, theft, criminal trespass, and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The FIR was based on a 2020 complaint where Patil alleged Mahajan forced him to sell the educational society to him. A Zero FIR was initially lodged at the Nimbhora police station in Jalgaon, which was later transferred to the Kothrud police station in Pune, where the alleged incident happened.

On July 22, 2022, the Maharashtra home department, headed by then deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, recommended a CBI probe against Mahajan. Subsequently, the CBI closed the case on December 23, 2023, saying the case against Mahajan could not be substantiated.

In his petition, Patil sought substantive relief from the court, stating that the decision of the government to transfer the case to the CBI was illegal, arbitrary, and violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. Requesting the court to quash and set aside the transfer, he sought a stay in the investigation by the Kothrud police.

Appearing for CBI, additional public prosecutor Konde Deshmukh, for state and special public prosecutor Amit Munde, said Patil’s petition does not survive, as the CBI already filed a closure report in the case on December 23, 2023. They stated that Patil can now adopt an appropriate remedy before the Pune court by filing a protest petition.

The division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr Neela Gokhale disposed of the petition and directed Patil to contest the case before the trial court in Pune. The court observed that the case was transferred to the CBI via a notification dated July 27, 2022. “In view of the above, nothing survives for further consideration in this petition. The petition is accordingly disposed of,” it concluded.