PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has come down heavily on Goa Police over the delay in registering an FIR into the theft and alleged vandalism at the Shree Saibaba Temple in Borim, questioning whether the police simply “sit and watch” while law and order is breached.
Hearing a petition on Tuesday, the Division Bench of Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit Jamsandekar observed that such delays appeared to be becoming a pattern with the police. “This is the trend with the police. Why? During the Shivaji statue issue as well, there was complete lawlessness. And the police sit and watch?” the Bench remarked. The Court was informed that the incident at the temple, which falls under the jurisdiction of Ponda police station, occurred on July 11 but the FIR was registered only on July 22 -- nine days later. “There was a theft in the temple and the temple was vandalised. The CCTVs were destroyed. There is no CCTV secured, no panchanama conducted by the police. The FIR took nine days,” the petitioner submitted.
The Bench directed the Ponda police to file an affidavit setting out the reasons for the delay in registering the FIR, the investigation carried out so far and its present stage. “Ponda police shall file an affidavit stating the reasons for delay in filing the FIR, the investigation done, as well as the stage of investigation. The records of investigation papers shall be produced separately. The affidavit shall state what has been done so far,” the Bench said.
“There is no need for a preliminary enquiry. These are matters to be acted upon immediately. If there is evidence, just register an FIR and conduct a probe,” it further observed. The matter has been posted for August 25. The FIR named nine persons and around 30 unidentified persons in connection with the alleged unlawful entry, theft and intimidation at the temple. As per details shared with the media after registering the FIR, police said the accused allegedly entered the temple premises despite a temporary injunction issued by a competent civil court restraining them from interfering with the management and affairs of the Trust.
The accused allegedly formed an unlawful assembly, cut locks installed by the Trust, replaced them with new locks and forcibly entered the temple committee’s office. During the alleged break-in, two DVR hard disks connected to the temple’s CCTV surveillance system and two computer hard disks from the temple counter were allegedly stolen.
