[Sameer Wankhede Bar licence case] It is an offence from 1997, what are you going to do now? Bombay High Court to State

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra Police not to take any coercive steps against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede till February 28 in the case registered against him for fraudulently obtaining a bar licence..A Bench of Justices SS Shinde and NR Borkar recorded Wankhede's assurance that he will cooperate with the investigation and ordered,"Since the other Bench is not available for hearing this matter which pertains to that Court, it was mentioned before this Court. Heard the parties without entering into merits of the case submitted by both parties. Registry may place the matter before regular Bench on February 28, 2022. In light of the peculiar facts and circumstances for the limited period, after appearance before the police, the officer can proceed under Section 41A (1) and (2) of the CrPC. However till the next date, the officer shall not invoke subsection (3) and (4) of 41A. This limited relief is till the next date. In the event of urgency, both parties are at liberty to move the Court.".The Court was informed by counsel for Wankhede that in the event he is arrested by the police, he could lose his job. Advocate Niranjan Mundargi pressed for interim relief in favour of Wankhede, claiming that the FIR was lodged because Wankhede took action against political members. "My only prayer is let them just not take any coercive action against me. It is lodged because I as an officer took action against a sitting minister," Mundargi argued. Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda added that the punishment for the offences alleged against Wankhede was less than seven years. He added that since the alleged offence was committed by Wankhede when he was a minor, no FIR could have been filed against him."There is pressure from the police because of the nature of the case and the sensitivity of the issue; also see the kind of opposition I have," Ponda added..The High Court asked the Public Prosecutor to get instructions on whether a statement can be made that there will be no coercive action."When there is notice under Section 41A of Code of Criminal Procedure and punishment is below 7 years.. even if you (Wankhede) are arrested, you can move the Court for urgent hearing," the Court assured the counsels.Justice Borkar added,"It is an offence of 1997, what are you going to do now? Why can't you make a statement of no arrest. This is neither here nor there."To this, Chief Public Prosecutor Aruna Pai informed the Court that she did not have instructions to make the statement. She pointed out that once notice was given under Section 41A and if the petitioner cooperates, there was no requirement of arrest.Accepting that the police and the prosecutor had not been instructed to make a statement, the Court proceeded to pass the limited order..It is an offence of 1997, what are you going to do now? Why can't you make a statement of no arrest. This is neither here nor there.Bombay High Court .The Bench was hearing Wankhede's plea seeking quashing of the FIR registered on the complaint of the local excise department. The allegation was that Wankhede was a minor when he was granted a licence for the bar and restaurant in October 1997. He was 17 years old then, far below the minimum stipulated age of 21 years.Wankhede stated in his plea that he was wrongfully named in the FIR. He alleged that the FIR was a consequence of a witch-hunt launched against him because of his role in the arrest of Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik's son-in-law, and his investigations into Bollywood's alleged drug usage.He further claimed that he was 17 years old at the time, and that the law does not recognise a minor's competence to commit a crime. He maintained he was only signing where his mother had requested him to sign.He also drew the Court's attention to the fact that, as a minor, he was completely unaware of the alleged offence and therefore, the most important component for invoking provisions of the Indian Penal Code, mens rea (criminal intent), was missing..The prayers raised in the plea are as follows:Quash and set aside the FIR;Direct the respondents to not take any coercive actions against him during the pendency of the petition for quashing of the FIR;Stay the investigation being conducted by the officers of the Kopri Police Station.