MUNIRA BEGAM Vs. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) None for the petitioner. With the assistance of learned A.P.Ps. Mr. Mirza and Mrs. K.S. Joshi, we have gone through the entire record and papers of investigation. The docket shows that this Court monitored the investigation in respect of the custodial death of husband of the petitioner by name Sk. Baba @ Shaikh Rasul s/o Shaikh Alia Baksh. This Court also asked Mr. P.D. Rathod, Dy. Superintendent of Police, State C.I.D. to make thorough investigation. It also appears that this Court was not satisfied prima facie to make any award of compensation by way of interim relief. The matter thus proceeded further. Mr. Rathod, Dy. S.P. then proceeded to make investigation and also referred all the papers including Post Mortem report, photographs etc. to the department of forensic medicine in the Government Medical College, Nagpur to have a second opinion about the cause of death since the cause of death was the issue which was required to be thrashed out by this Court in view of the allegations of custodial death in the police custody. Mr. Rathod, then filed an affidavit St. No. 965/2004 in this Court on 07.07.2004 upon completion of investigation and has narrated the entire sequence of investigation and the facts of the case. In the said affidavit in para 7, he referred to the first post mortem that was done and also mentioned the injuries. He further referred the matter to the Government Medical College, Nagpur and also made queries about the Chemical Analyser's report that was required. It was found that the viscera of the deceased contained Ethyl Alcohol 120 ml/100 gm so also liver, spleen, kidneys contained 101 ml.gr. of Ethyl Alcohol per 100 gm. The second opinion that was received by him from the Government Medial College also shows that the case was of one of hanging in the manner of suicide. The Investigation Report placed before us by Mr. Rathod also shows that he examined several witnesses and has come to the conclusion that apart from medical evidence, the ocular evidence of the occupants of the police station also clearly indicated that the deceased was fully addicted to liquor and this is corroborated by finding of Ethyl Alcohol as stated in the report dated 10.05.2004. It is also stated in the report that there was evidence to show that the deceased committed suicide and that is corroborated by medical evidence and opinion obtained not once but twice and that too from the experts in the department of Forensic Medicines, Government Medical College, Nagpur.

(2.) The said report of the Investigating Officer is in much detail. After it was filed in this Court way back in the year 2004, it has not been controverted nor any other material has been placed on record by the petitioner in order to take a different view than the one submitted by Investigating Officer Mr. Rathod in his lengthy report.

(3.) The upshot of the above discussion is that it is not possible for this Court to hold that the death of deceased Shaikh Baba s/o Shaikh Alia Baksh was a custodial death in police custody and for sure the blame may not be fastened on the police personnel of the police station concerned. Consequently, we find that the petitioner will also not be entitled to any amount of compensation from the State Government. In the result, we find no merit in this petition. Hence, we pass the following order.