Bombay High Court "disturbed" by police inaction during midnight demolition of printing press founded by Dr. BR Ambedkar

The Bombay High Court condemned police inaction over midnight demolition of the historic Buddha Bhushan Printing Press founded by Dr. BR Ambedkar in Mumbai's Dadar [Prakash Ambedkar v. Vijay B Ranpise & Ors.]

A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Kamal Khata directed the Mumbai Police Commissioner to personally respond to the alleged inaction.

The order was passed on petitions concerning the June 2016 demolition of the printing press founded by Dr. BR Ambedkar in 1945.

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had purchased two plots of land with his own funds in the year 1930. In 1945, he created a Trust on one piece of land and constructed a printing press known as Buddha Bhushan Printing Press. On one plot there were three buildings. One building housed the printing press. The second building had Yashodhara Sanganak Kendra and the third building was Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhavan.

The petitions alleged that seven persons, along with 400-500 unknown individuals, demolished the heritage structure using bulldozers and earthmovers in the early morning hours.

The reason for demolition stemmed from disputes between the trustees of the Trust who were not only acting against each other but also against the object of the Trust.

In the process of demolition, the machines purchased by Dr. Ambedkar and the “Panchshil Flag” were damaged and cupboards and office documents including documents in the handwriting of Dr. Ambedkar and valuable anti-manuscripts regarding integration of social rights from 1910 till 1956 were all stolen.

The Court expressed shock at the police affidavit filed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police.

"It is deeply disturbing to read such a thoughtless affidavit," the judges stated. 

In the affidavit, the officer broadly denied the allegations, calling them ‘vague and baseless’.

The Court also noted that the police sub-inspector of the station admitted to knowledge of the demolition but justified the situation by relying on a demolition notice issued by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM)

It also criticised police attempts to justify their inaction by claiming complainants lacked requisite documents. 

The Court expressed shock at the ‘audacity and manner’ in which the police responded to the complainants who approached them. 

According to petition records, when Anand Ambedkar (Ambedkar’s grandson) rushed to Bhoiwada police station to report the ongoing demolition, the Deputy Commissioner of Police allegedly threatened to imprison him and refused to dispatch officers to halt the illegal activity. 

“It is rare, if not unprecedented, for the BMC or any authority to carry out a demolition between 12 am and 7 am. Instead of promptly proceeding to the site and halting what appears to have been an illegal demolition, there was evident inaction on the part of the police,” the Court said. 

In light of the above, the Court directed the Police Commissioner of Mumbai to personally review all investigation materials without delegating the task, disclose the officers on duty during the incident, and explain whether intelligence reports warned of the mob gathering. 

It also ordered the MCGM Commissioner to clarify whether demolition permission was granted for the midnight operation and whether such late-night demolitions have occurred in other cases.

The matter will be heard next on June 15.

[Read Order]