AAP Leader Preeti Sharma Menon wrote to the Honourable Chief Justice of India to draw his attention to the remarks made by Honourable Chief Justice of Bombay in PIL 401 of 2022.
The Aam Aadmi Party has been at the forefront of exposing blatant corruption amongst politicians, bureaucrats and senior police officers in the state of Maharashtra. With many scandals involving senior most police officials rocking the state, all concerned citizens have followed with interest PIL No 401 of 2022 filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the appointment of the highest police officer in the state, the Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra.
The AAP feels that this PIL is blatantly politically motivated and it is disturbing that the Bombay High Court has not only allowed an untenable case but has passed unwarranted remarks in the same.
Preeti Sharma Menon pointed out in her letter that the Honourable Courts of India have maintained that PILs in service matters are not maintainable, then how was this case allowed to progress? The Telangana High Court judgement has passed an explicit order to this effect, yet Bombay High Court has allowed this case to progress.
In fact it was surprising that the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court seemed to be in an inordinate rush to pass orders in this case within two days of hearing, without allowing the affected party, acting DGP Shri Sanjay Pandey to be heard or intervene until Mr. Pandey’s lawyer pressed for the same.
We are in a state of shock to read the remarks attributed to the Chief Justice in the last hearing. The media has reported that the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court said that Sanjay Pandey happens to be the blue-eyed officer of the State Government. He declared that ‘Once he is appointed as the DGP, he will not be in a position to discharge his duty… There would be a give and take. The state has gone out of its way to change his ratings… such an officer should never be appointed as DGP.”
We are truly appalled by these unprecedented, highly personal and seemingly unwarranted statements that seem to suggest that the Chief Justice is approaching the case with prejudice.
Firstly the remarks are erroneous because the state government has not shown any bias in favour of Shri Sanjay Pandey. On the contrary they were trying to bypass him and he had to publicly fight for the post which was rightfully his. The AAP too had made a statement on how that state government was being unfair to Sanjay Pandey by superseding him.
Secondly IPS Sanjay Pandey has a track record of being upright and unbiased and the Honourable Chief Justice has no proof to allege that there is any evidence of “give and take” in his entire career.
Preeti Sharma Menon wrote, “As a citizen of this country who has fought corruption and political nexuses, I urge you to please take cognizance of this strange case that is attacking the very foundations of bi-partisan standards upheld by all the courts of India. One cannot even begin to measure the impact it must have on the morale of our police force which has become a pawn of political interests.”
We hope that CJI takes cognizance of this unacceptable conduct and prevents Bombay High Court from becoming an arena for political rivalry at the cost of the safety and security of our state
