Bombay High Court orders district judge probe into alleged illegal detention of lawyer accused of kidnapping client for legal fees

The Bombay High Court recently appointed a district judge to probe the alleged illegal detention and handcuffing of Mumbai lawyer Vimalchandra Umeshchandra Jha, who was arrested in connection with a First Information Report (FIR) accusing him of kidnapping and torturing his client for unpaid legal fees..The Court passed the direction in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by for Jha by NGO Lawyers for Just Society, tagged along with the writ petition filed by Jha seeking quashing of the FIR against him..According to the FIR, Jha kidnapped his client Navnath Gole, a business person whom he had represented in a bail matter and secured a favourable order.Advocate Subhash Jha, appearing for the NGO, submitted that the accused was arrested 2 days before the FIR was registered and illegally detained before he was produced before the judicial magistrate. He was purportedly handcuffed when he was being produced before the judicial magistrate, Jha claimed..The Bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and SP Tavade appointed Principal District & Sessions Judge RM Joshi to enquire into the allegations and grievances raised by Jha. Judge Joshi was also directed to find out about the installation of CCTV cameras at the police station where the FIR was registered. The Principal judge was directed to report to the High Court on the next date of hearing..The Bench had earlier directed the police to file an affidavit placing on record the status of the investigation and details of the arrest of the accused.The police's affidavit stated that the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) will carry out necessary inquiry with regard to the aspect of handcuffing the petitioner, and that a detailed report would be produced before the Court.The police also tendered an "unconditional apology" while admitting that during Jha's arrest, the guidelines issued by the apex court might not have been complied with by subordinate officers..In view of the serious allegations made by the petitioner and considering that one such allegation was "accepted by the senior police inspector", while suggesting an inquiry, the Court was of the opinion that "an independent inquiry needs to be carried out by an independent officer appointed by this Court."Apart from nominating the Principal Judge to conduct a probe, the Court also transferred the investigation in the FIR to the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID), which was directed to submit its report to the DCP..An FIR was registered against Jha for offences under Section 364A (extortion for ransom) 365 (kidnapping to illegally confine), 387 (fear of death by extortion), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code..According to the FIR, Jha kidnapped his client Gole, who availed of the lawyer's services when he was arrested in connection with a legal dispute stemming from a business transaction.Gole's wife had approached Jha to represent her husband before the Ahmednagar Sessions Court, Maharashtra, to secure his release on bail. Jha apparently stated that his fee was Rs 70 lakh..Even as Gole claimed that his wife had paid up the entire fees, Jha started demanding Rs. 3 crore from Gole a few days after his release on bail. He also allegedly threatened that if the money is not given, then Jha will ensure that Gole's bail gets cancelled by the court.When Gole refused to pay up despite repeated threats and demands, Jha allegedly kidnapped Gole on April 2, 2021. After he was taken to a farm house in the suburbs of Mumbai, Gole was allegedly beaten up by three unknown persons who seemed to have known Jha, the FIR said..[Read order here]