How reinstatement of cops affects you, Bombay High Court asks Khwaja Yunus' mother

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday sought to know how Asiya Begum, the mother of blast suspect Khwaja Yunus who died in police custody, was personally affected by the reinstatement of accused policemen.

Begum has sought action for contempt of court against Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh, claiming that reinstatement of the four policemen was violation of the court's orders.

The high court had in April 2004 directed the Maharashtra government to suspend four policemen accused of custodial torture and destruction of evidence, the plea said.

Assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze and constables Rajendra Tiwari, Sunil Desai and Rajaram Nikam are currently facing trial for the alleged custodial death of Yunus in 2003.

A division bench led by Justice Nitin Jamdar, on Thursday, however, noted that reinstatement was a service matter.

"How is the petitioner personally affected by this," the court said, adjourning the hearing for two weeks.

In June 2020, a review committee headed by Parambir Singh decided that the four policemen should be taken back in active service pending departmental inquiry and the trial.

Begum's petition claimed that no departmental inquiry had been initiated yet.

Yunus (27) was arrested on December 25, 2002, in connection with a blast in suburban Ghatkopar on December 2 that year.

In January 2003, police claimed that he escaped when a police vehicle taking him to Aurangabad met with accident.

But his co-accused alleged that he was beaten up severely in custody which probably caused his death.