Court directs police to investigate Breach Candy club case further

MUMBAI: A magistrate has directed the police to thoroughly investigate a criminal case of cheating and forgery against several managing committee members of the Breach Candy club after observing that the inquiry was “faulty, incomplete and incorrect”. The court on Friday did not accept a police closure report.
Last year, a club member lodged a police complaint saying the managing committee had members who should not have been there and had committed offences that included criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, destruction of documents and falsifying evidence.The member alleged induction of “out of turn members based on dodgy paperwork”.
When the police did not act, a private complaint was filed before a magistrate, who last October directed the police to investigate. In March, the police said they had found no evidence of crime and filed a closure report. The investigation had been against managing committee members Dipesh Mehta, Vikram Malik, Lalit Agarwal, and seven others, including three women.
The police said there was “no incriminating evidence forthcoming against all accused” and moved court to close the case. The managing committee members under investigation had said the case against them was false.
After hearing submissions in a protest petition filed by a club member, Alon Mooleman, against the closure report, additional chief metropolitan magistrate at Girgaon U K Aher said the police needed to keep investigating. “Prima facie I am satisfied that the complaint warrants exhaustive investigation further in order to come to a right decision as to whether or not the accused committed any offence disclosed in the complaint,” Aher said.
The complainant, represented by advocate Mohan Jayakar and son Archit, contended that the police investigation was “biased, incomplete and intentionally closed to protect the accused”.
After hearing arguments that Agarwal’s application mentioned ‘Gmail’ as his email at a time when the service was not launched in 2003 — his explanation was that he added the email address in 2010 before his membership interview — the judge said: “Objections raised by complainants prima facie indicate that Agarwal’s membership is false and fabricated.”
Mehta said: “The trust has always cooperated with the police investigation and we will continue to do so. We are confident that nothing wrong has been done by the managing committee. This is only a power game to dislodge the present managing committee as it is headed by an Indian and the primary objection on record is against Indians holding position of power in the club.”