Unmesh Gujarati
Sprouts Exclusive

The issue pertained to the construction of a building on Ghodbundar Road in Thane, which allegedly had been usurped by Mehta, and in spite of an FIR being registered, no chargesheet was being filed against the ex-MLA.

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Thane Police to conduct an impartial investigation and submit a progress report in two weeks in a case registered in 2021 against former BJP MLA from Mira Bhayander Narendra Mehta.

The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande were hearing a petition filed by a businessman from Mira Bhayander who was seeking the transfer of the case from Kashimira police station to any other for the investigation to proceed further.

During the hearing, advocates Yashodeep Deshmukh and Vinod Sangvikar submitted before the court that the issue pertained to the construction of a building on Ghodbundar Road in Thane, which allegedly had been usurped by Mehta, and in spite of an FIR being registered no chargesheet was being filed against the ex-MLA.

The bench saw that one chargesheet had been filed, but the investigation in the case had not been closed by the police, so it sought to know from the special Public Prosecutor Pradip Gharat about the progress in the case.

Gharat submitted that new facts and new witnesses are coming forward in the case, so statements are being recorded by the police.

At this, the bench said, “Investigation should be fair and impartial. We are only concerned about that and do it in accordance with the law.”

However, Deshmukh submitted that the police have been investigating this case for over three years, which is only over a land transaction and have still not been able to complete the probe. He also referred to a viral social media post about Mehta feeding cake to a police officer of Navghar police station, which is in the vicinity of Mira Bhayander area, and said, “The chargesheet is already filed against most of the accused and only for two people, including Mehta, they are taking two years to investigate this case. The accused is seen feeding cake to the senior police inspector inside the police station. What confidence should I have in this police?”

The bench replied, “Mr Counsel, feeding cake does not mean that the investigation will not be impartial.” The bench directed Gharat to submit a progress report on March 21.