Crime
Gag on POSH cases: After 6 months, Bombay HC says it’s ‘case specific’

Nearly six months after a complete ‘gag’ order to media reporting and uploading of judgements on cases pertaining to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (POSH) Act, 2013, the Bombay High Court has clarified that it was ‘case specific’ and not applicable to all matters under the (POSH) act.
Justice G.S. Patel, who had passed the earlier order of September 24, 2021, acknowledged that “it remained to be specifically noted in that order that “the directions had to be confined” to that particular case and could not have any wider or larger applicability.
Justice Patil further noted that any such rules of general applicability would have to be approved by the full court, and a single judge hearing a particular matter within his rostered assignment has “no authority or jurisdiction to issue any rules binding the entire court”.
“It is only the full court or the Chief Justice which or who can do that. Very possibly, such rules might even have been required to be notified in the official gazette. None of this was in contemplation at any time on September 24, 2021,” Justice Patil added.
The clarifications came on Thursday while disposing an intervention application filed by the Forum Against Oppression of Women under the impressions that the guidelines were general in nature.
FAOW senior advocate Indira Jaisingh contended that these guidelines were not only against the letter and spirit of the POSH Act, but also contrary to the very concept of open courts, which are an essential aspect of judicial determinations globally, and now it was being cited by men in other cases.
In the previous order (IANS – Sept 27, 2021), Justice Patel had said all such matters shall be heard either “in camera” or in the judge’s chambers, orders cannot be passed in open court, or uploaded on the high court’s official website, and the media has been prohibited from reporting the proceedings or the verdicts without the court’s permission.
Virtually making POSH cases at par with the existing guidelines in rape cases, the order warned that violation of the same or publishing the concerned party’s names or other details, even if in the public domain, would be treated as contempt of court.
He observed that since there are no set guidelines for such matters, his initial order would set a working protocol for the future orders, hearings, case file management, and would be revised or modified, as needed.
The ‘minimum guidelines’ issued dealt with the format of filing orders in POSH cases, the filing protocols, grant of access by the registry, hearings, directions to the certified copy department, public access, breach, etc.
“Both sides and all parties and advocates, as also witnesses, are forbidden from disclosing the contents of any order, judgment, or filing to the media or publishing any such material in any mode or fashion by any means, including social media, without specific leave of the court,” the court said on the media disclosure part.
Justice Patel added that it was imperative to protect the identities of the parties from disclosure, even accidental disclosure in such proceedings, in the interests of both sides, and the endeavour would be to “anonymise the identities of the parties”.
The orders came in a hearing of a POSH case involving a major blue-chip company and its woman staffer — who was represented by advocate Abha Singh.
The other highlights were: Parties’ names shall be replaced with “A v B”, etc., the order will mention them as only ‘Plaintiff, Defendant No. 1, etc.’, no reference to any ‘personally identifiable information (PII) like email, mobile or phone numbers, addresses, etc,’ and ‘no witness names and addresses’ shall be mentioned.
All orders/judgements would be delivered in private, not in open court but only in the judge’s chambers or in camera, with online or hybrid facility not allowed, in the presence of the litigants and lawyers and others including most of the court staff to leave the court.
“Orders can’t be published without court’s direction, and if any order is to be released into public domain, it will require a specific order of the court. This will be on the condition that only the fully anonymised version of the order of judgement is let into the public domain for publication,” said Justice Patel in the earlier order.
It forbade both sides, all parties and advocates and witnesses from disclosing the contents of any order, judgment, or filing to the media or publishing any such material in any mode or fashion by any means, including social media, without specific leave of the court, as per the guidelines.
There are strict restrictions barring anyone other than the Advocate-on-Record to inspect or copy any filings/orders, the entire record will be kept sealed and not handed over to anybody without the court’s order, witness depositions would be strictly not uploaded under any circumstances, and so on.
Crime
Thane Residents Zakir Irani And Sonu Jadhav Get Five-Year Jail Term, ₹15.3 Lakh Fine For Chain Snatching

Mumbai: The special MCOCA court on Thursday sentenced two Thane residents to five years’ imprisonment for chain snatching and operating a crime syndicate in a November 2020 incident. The MCOCA court imposed a fine of Rs15.3 lakh on each of the accused.
The court found Zakir Irani, 39, guilty of chain snatching and heading a crime syndicate involved in such crimes, along with Sonu Ananta Jadhav, alias Raj, 28.
According to the prosecution, the complainant was on a morning walk toward Goal Garden, Malad (East), on November 9, 2020, at around 6am. At around 6.10am, a blue-coloured motor scooter approached from behind, and the pillion rider attempted to snatch a gold chain from his neck. The complainant resisted, but the pillion rider inflicted a blow with a helmet on his head, causing him to lose his balance. The rider then snatched the chain.
The complainant claimed that two passersby helped him get up, but the assailants threatened to kill him by running him over. The complainant chased them and tried to note the bike’s license plate number, but two digits were missing. He later lodged a complaint with Dindoshi police station. The police acted quickly and, based on a confidential tip, arrested Irani on the same day. A month later, Jadhav was also arrested.
Public prosecutor Jaysingh Desai contended that Irani had four prior cases and was out on bail when he attacked the complainant in this case. It was also noted that Jadhav was a co-accused in some of these cases. Desai argued that Irani headed the syndicate.
The prosecution stated, “It clearly reflects that in each and every case, Zakir is the ma in accused and there are certain other associates like Gulam Hussain with Zakir in three cases…. In all cases, the modus operandi is the same: the accused target the victim’s neck to snatch a gold chain or mangalsutra.”
Crime
Mumbai Crime: 32-Year-Old BMC Employee Found Dead Inside SRA Building At HDIL Compound In Kurla; Police Launch Probe

Mumbai: A 32-year-old employee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was found dead in Building No. 9 of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project at HDIL Compound, Kurla (West), on Thursday afternoon, police officials said. The incident was reported around 4:30 PM by the V B Nagar Police Station.
According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Rajesh Parmar, a resident of the Ghatkopar area, who worked in the BMC Solid Waste Management (SWM) department, F North Ward.
The body has been sent to the Rajawadi Hospital for postmortem examination. The exact cause of death remains unknown and further investigation is currently underway.
Crime
Mumbai Shocker: 20-Year-Old Specially-Abled Girl Sexually Assaulted By Over 17 Men; DNA Samples Sent For Testing

Mumbai: A very shocking incident has taken place in South Mumbai. A shocking incident has come to light in South Mumbai where a 20-year-old girl was sexually abused by more than 17 people on different days.
In this Case have been registered against unknown person under 64 (2) (i) (commits rape, on a woman incapable of giving consent) and 64 (2) (k) (commits rape on a woman suffering from mental illness or physical disability) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita at Cuffe Parade police station, said the police officer. Blood samples of more than 17 suspects named by the victim girl have been taken and sent for DNA testing with the Fetus.
According to FIR, This case was registered on September 22 and in this case, a 17-year-old minor boy has been taken into custody and a 34-year-old married man has been arrested.
Importantly, the NGO Vidhayak Bharati has helped the police in getting the victim girl, who is a special child, who unable to talk proper and deaf. Psi Ashwini Koli – Patil worked hard to detect this crime case.
According to the information given by the police, The victim girl complained to her grandmother that she felt worms moving in her stomach. She was then admitted to Cama Hospital. At that time, it was revealed that the girl was 5 months pregnant. Then the Call received from Cama Hospital to Police was unmarried, mentally retarded and five months pregnant.
In connection with this incident, when Cuffe Parade Police went to the said place to record the statement of the Victim woman. But she unable to record statement. Then Police have recorded statement of her father that she was mentally retarded since she could not speak and deaf. He did not know anything about this and told him that he did not want to file a complaint. Victim Father has refused to give Complaint.
However, on September 22, when she was brought to the police station for further investigation, she ready to filed a complaint against an unknown person. Then her father became ready to file Complaint.
The complainant and Victim’s Father said that some unknown person took advantage of her inability to speak and being mentally retarded, five to six months ago, while her daughter was living at house, and took advantage of this situation and raped and sexually assaulted her, even though he knew that she was not capable of giving consent to physical intercourse. A case has been registered.
It was difficult for psi Ashwini Koli Patil to solve this case. However, Counselor Lila Patade and Councilor Madhura Kodlekar – Counselor from Vidhayak Bharti – Child Rights Organizations helped in recording the girl’s statement using drawing and finger doll therapy for 5 days and 4-5 hours.
During this counseling, the person who was repeatedly named by the victim girl was arrested and a minor boy was detained. While the persons who were repeatedly named in the investigation were shown as suspects and their blood samples were taken for DNA.
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