Women lawyers move Bombay HC alleging late night abduction, custodial torture by police

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued notice in a writ petition filed by two female advocates alleging midnight abduction, assault, dacoity and custodial torture by senior officials of the Pune Police. [Kirti Ahuja and Anr v. State of Maharashtra & Ors]

The petition is filed by Advocates Kirti Ahuja and Kanika Ahuja. They have sought an independent judicial inquiry or a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged police high-handedness.

Apart from the State of Maharashtra and the CBI, the plea arrays senior police officials including Commissioner of Pune Police Amitesh Kumar and Additional Commissioner Tejasvi Satpute.

A Bench of Justices Sarang V Kotwal and Ranjitsinha R Bhonsale issued notice to the respondents and posted the matter for hearing after 2 weeks.

According to the plea, nearly 200 police personnel forcibly stormed Kirti Ahuja’s residential premises in Pune at around 1:40 AM on June 17, 2026. The petitioners stated that the force arrived in private SUVs and police vans armed with gas cutters and sticks. Most personnel were allegedly wearing civil clothes without nameplates. The plea alleges that 24 occupants including guests, tenants, an elderly woman and an infant were illegally detained without search warrants. 

Kanika Ahuja alleged that male officers physically assaulted her, tore her clothing and inflicted injuries on her chest and back. The lawyers claimed that the raid was conducted to sabotage multi-crore civil litigation they were handling against prominent real estate developers. They alleged that police severed power lines, disabled CCTVs and looted valuables, cash and original legal case files.

Furthermore, the lawyers pointed out severe discrepancies in police records. The police claimed that their operation followed a first information report (FIR). However, station records revealed that the alleged FIR was registered only at 4:12 AM, hours after their initial detention. 

The lawyers also claimed that their administrative complaint to the Maharashtra DGP was callously forwarded back to the accused officers.

In view of this, the petition has sought a judicial inquiry by a sitting or retired High Court judge and criminal prosecution of the erring officers.