(Reproduced from Bombay Times November 02, 2007)
Resident books cops!
Posted On Friday, November 02, 2007
Manthan K Mehta
It is the power of one that has brought embarrassment to the entire police force. Indur Chhugani, a resident of Khar, has extracted a High Court order that has sought action against the all the police outposts that have come up in various corners of Mumbai without any permission.
The 59-year old is now trying to further tighten the screws on the police by amending his writ petition. “I have now decided to amend the petition by seeking action against the police for stealing electricity. They should be booked under the Electricity Act. I’m now making the power supply companies as party to the petition.”
Chhugani argued that not only the chowkies were illegal, but they had even managed to secure illegal water and electricity connections.
Chhugani decided to take up this matter after he asked the police whether they had sought any permission for the construction of the outposts. A policeman ridiculed him by replying, “People like you require permission, but for the police there are no such rules.”
Chhugani then decided to go deep into the matter and sought information under the Right to Information Act. “I also sought information on the sponsors for the outposts, as many were built with the funds provided by builders and businessmen.”
Chhugani was incensed that the help of shady business groups were being taken to build the outposts. “The sponsors have put their plaques. Now, who will dare to a complaint against a person, who have financially helped the police.”
The police have argued that not all outposts have been build with the help of sponsors. They pointed that 269 of 388 police outposts in Mumbai were illegal. Fifty-two beat outposts have names of persons sponsoring the chowkies, while nine have advertisements displayed on their premises. Chhugani said, “You will be shocked to know that I have been told, by sources within the police, that there are outposts that have been build with the help of pimps as well. Obviously, such chowkies won’t have the names of sponsors put on them”.
He also found out through Sanjiv Chimbulkar, another RTI applicant that the home department didn’t know about who had financed the construction of such beat chowkies. “Even the home department had washed its hands off the issue,” he states.
"I have now decided to amend the petition by seeking action against the police for stealing electricity. They should be booked under the Electricity Act. I’m now making the power supply companies as party to the petition "
- Indur Chhugani, Khar resident
Chhugani himself represented the case in front of the High Court bench. “I had sought the help of my lawyer friend to draft the petition, but I argued the case personally.”
For the past two years, Chhugani had been devoting his time to unearth corruption in the police department. According to Chhugani, “I was falsely implicated in a case by the police. I’m already fighting a court case against them.”
Chhugani has opened a website www.roguepolice.com to create awareness about the wrongs inflicted upon the society by the police. Chhugani, who was one of the pioneers of the yellowpages business in Mumbai, is now totally devoted to this cause. .....Reporter .... manthan.mehta@timesgroup.com
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(Reproduced from the Times of India November 14, 2007 pg 8)
Deal with illegal police chowkies in state: HC
Says Cops Should Live Up To Expectations
Swati Deshpande | TNN
Mumbai: It is not just Mumbai which will benefit from a PIL filed against the numerous illegal police chowkies dotting the city. The Bombay high court, while recently directing the Mumbai police to set right the civic violations involved in raising such chowkies, said similar remedial action should be implemented all over the state.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by alert Mumbai resident I K Chhugani, who had pointed out that many police chowkies are sponsored by private builders and have illegal electricity connections. About 70% of the 388 police chowkies in the metropolis are illegal, the police admitted in court. On Monday, in Bandra, the police could be seen removing the ‘sponsored by’ boards. Chhugani said there would be hundreds of illegal police chowkies across the state which the police now have to either demolish or regularise.
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http://www.facebook.com/A bench of justices J N Patel and Amjad Sayed said it held the Mumbai police in high esteem and “they should live up to its expectations’’.
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The judges noted that the force should not indulge in illegalities which, if committed by others, would be deemed a crime. “Prima facie, this court does not appreciate the police department to be sponsored by private persons or organisations, except in the case of emergencies where the state is not in a position to come to the rescue of the police force for their sovereign duties or welfare activities as it virtually leads to extortion and hapless citizens are incapacitated from protesting such dubious ways adopted by the police force,’’ said the judges..
Chhugani had informed the court that the police had furnished him false information regarding illegal chowkies under a Right to Information (RTI) Act. The court in its order asked the public prosecutor S R Borulkar to take note and said that “if the information furnished is found to be false, an apology from the police department should meet the ends of justice’’. This, the court said, “would show that the police can also apologise when found on the wrong side of law’’.
Hemant Karkare, joint police commissioner (Administration) in Mumbai, assured the court that the department would rectify the illegality in a phased manner and even expressed “gratitude’’ to Chhugani. But he said there were exigencies that necessitated the construction of sponsored chowkies. He also said that the electric supply is not taken directly from supply lines but “by requesting neighbours’’. Chhugani strongly refuted this claim. Borulkar said he would get all the connections examined and also make power supply companies parties to the PIL.Big Borrowers... Bank managers work hand in glove.
Come Sleep with me...Recruiting IPS officers demand
Demolish police chowkies ... CNN-IBN report ... PIL filed
Latest on this site ... This website informs of actions by Rogue Police in India.
How Mumbai Police framed Chhugani .. TOI of 24/07/06 ... Happens across India everyday.
Rogue Police of India ... Narayana Murthy of INFOSYS was also arrested
Citizens Policing the Police is a MUST ...Need of the day
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