Maharashtra ATS Chief, six others under CBI scanner

Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria and six senior Indian Police Service officers will face a Central Bureau of Investigation probe for allegedly shielding a fellow police official, who was accused of clearing his law exam, without appearing for practical exam, the Bombay high court ordered on Monday.

The high court directed the CBI to probe the allegation made by a petitioner against the police officers and submit its report within three months.

According to Chitra Salunkhe, former vice principal of Siddharth Law College, K L Bishnoi, a 1985 batch IPS officer, cleared his final year LLB examination, with the help of the then acting principal I A Inamdar, without actually appearing for the practical examination held on March 12, 2005.

Salunkhe had lodged complaints against the duo and acting on her complaint, the seven IPS officers had conducted an inquiry.

Apart from Maria, the officers, who now face CBI probe, are Additional Director Generals of police Pankaj Gupta and Mohan Rathod, Additional Commissioner of police Sanjay Saxena and three Deputy Commissioners of police -- Naval Bajaj, Brijesh Singh and Vishwas Nangre-Patil.

Salunkhe had approached the High Court alleging that all the seven IPS officers had submitted false reports to their superiors in order to shield Bishnoi.

The petitioner said she had lodged a complaint on February 10, 2010 with DGP Maharashtra seeking action against the IPS officers but no action has been taken on it for two years.

She alleged the inaction was only because all of them are senior IPS officers, and, therefore, she demanded a CBI probe. A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode ordered a CBI probe into the case and said, "In our view, it is the duty of a police officer to look into allegations and promptly conduct an inquiry and not to sit on complaints and delay proceedings."