Former senior police inspector Suhas Gokhale on Friday said he will be moving the Bombay High Court for the promotion denied to him when the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested him in 2015.
Mr. Gokhale, who was heading the Azad Maidan unit of the Anti Narcotics Cell, was arrested in 2015 along with four other officers for their alleged criminal links with drug-peddling accused Shashikala Patankar alias Baby. Earlier this week, however, when the Crime Branch filed a chargesheet in the case, names of all five officers were dropped from the case due to lack of evidence against them.
“We will be filing a petition before the Bombay High Court seeking that my father, who was due for promotion to Assistant Commissioner of Police rank, be given the promotion at the earliest under provisions of Article 32 (Right to Constitutional Remedies) of the Indian Constitution,” Mr. Gokhale’s son Saket told The Hindu on Friday.
The Gokhales have already filed a counter-petition before a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Court against the Mumbai Crime Branch investigation, the hearing for which is scheduled for August 4. They have also demanded compensation. “We are hoping for the final order to come soon,” Mr. Saket said.
On Friday, Mr. Saket took to social media, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party government targetted his father despite his honesty and dedication.
“My father served the country for 30 years. He was in a state of partial paralysis for 14 years but did not quit. He was going to get promoted on the day of his retirement. He neatly ironed his uniform hoping to attend the retirement parade, but to his utter shock, he was placed under arrest. My father was tortured for four years despite the court stating there was no evidence. Honestly, this victory means nothing as my father got humiliated and his reputation had gone for a toss,” he said, in a string of tweets on Friday.
Ms. Patankar was arrested in March 2015, after 124 kg of a powdery substance, at the time believed to be mephedrone, was seized from the residence of police constable Dharmaraj Kalokhe, posted with the Marine Drive police station. Another cache of the same substance was seized from Mr. Kalokhe’s locker, along with some liquor, following which he was dismissed from service.
Two independent forensic tests on the substance, however, certified it as mono sodium glutamate, causing the entire case to come crashing down. The Crime Branch chargesheet exonerated Mr. Gokhale as well as the four other policemen, identified as inspector Gautam Gaikwad, sub inspector Sudhakar Sarang, assistant sub inspector Jyotiram Mane and head constable Yashwant Parade.