"...Unless there is public outburst..": High Court pulls police for delay in police action in Badlapur school molestation case

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday came down heavily on police for alleged dereliction of duty in Badlapur school children molestation case, involving two four-year-old girls, and also questioned the school authorities for not reporting the incident on time.

Expressing shock over the incident, the court slammed the police machinery for not working “unless there is a public outburst” and questioned the Badlapur police as to why the statements of the victims and their families were not recorded on time as per procedure and why no speedy action was taken against the school authorities.

“If the school is not a safe place, then what is the use of speaking about the right to education…?,” it asked.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj K Chavan was hearing a suo motu (on its own) plea initiated by it taking cognisance of news reports of the alleged sexual assault on two four-year-old girls by a cleaning staff at a Badlapur school in Thane district and the “delay” in police action.

“Since this is a suo motu PIL on a larger issue, the security and safety of girls cannot be compromised. Unless there is a strong public outburst (protest), the machinery does not work,” the bench observed.

"You (police) recorded statements so belatedly, incident is of August 12-13 and FIR is of August 16, statement recorded now? Why were statements of parents not recorded earlier? Duty of the police officer is to record the statement as per procedures. We are interested in ensuring victims get justice,” Justice Ms Mohite-Dere remarked.

The bench noted, “We are appalled by the fact that the Badlapur police did not record the statement of the second victim girl as per criminal procedure. Only after the suo motu PIL was registered yesterday (Wednesday), the statement of father of one of the victims was recorded belatedly post midnight.”

Saying that it hoped that “no stone will be left unturned to ensure justice”, the court noted that the Badlapur school authorities had failed to report the alleged sexual abuse to the police despite being aware of the same.

Advocate General Birendra Saraf, representing the Maharashtra government, assured the court that all support will be given to victims and their families.

He further said that the statements will be recorded promptly during the day and counselling of victims and their families mandated as per law will also be done.

"We want to see the case file on the next day and what investigation was done by Badlapur police before it was handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) (headed by Inspector General Aarti Singh). Lot of answers you have to give as to why Badlapur police station did not conduct investigation as required,” Justice Ms Mohite-Dere said.

Saraf also said that an administrator has been appointed at the school and action was taken against the school authorities.

“We will ensure not only guidelines are issued regarding safety of students but they are implemented in all the schools. We will do everything in our means to ensure that,” Saraf said, adding that strict action will be taken in case of any dereliction of duty in the present case.

“If the school is not a safe place, then what is the use of speaking about the right to education and such things? Even four-year-old girls are not being spared. What is this situation? It is absolutely shocking,” Justice Ms Mohite-Dere remarked.

Saraf assured that all steps will be taken to ensure the safety of children and the SIT will pursue the matter on a speedy basis.

“Several cases go unreported. It requires a huge amount of courage to speak up about all this and girls have complained. The police have not played the role the way it ought to and if they were sensitised, this would not have happened,” the bench said.

“First thing, they (police) should have registered FIR, but they made the family wait and it discourages the public from reporting such incidents. They (public) should not lose faith in the system. You should know the motto of Maharashtra Police (to protect the good and restrain bad persons). The people need not come out on streets to get FIR registered. Something needs to be done within the police force. There is a need for sensitisation of the police department,” the bench added.

The court adjourned the further hearing till August 27, while asking the state to file an affidavit in this regard.