Two dismissed cops fined Rs 50,000 each for fake President's pardon

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 each on two dismissed police personnel who claimed to have received presidential pardon for their convictions in a 1990 custodial death.
A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Sambhaji Shinde also issued a show cause notice to former sub-inspector Dilip Parmar and ex-constable Kantilal Mandole as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.The fine will have to be deposited in court.
Assistant public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh informed the court that a proposal to lodge a criminal case for forgery against the duo was pending with the joint commissioner of police. While Mandole is serving his punishment at the Kolhapur central jail, Parmar is “absconding”, said the prosecutor.
The case dates back to 1990 when Parmar, Mandole and five other cops attached to the D N Nagar police station in Andheri (W) were charged with the custodial death of a 26-year-old youth. After the cops were charge-sheeted, their services were terminated. In 1996, a sessions court held the cops guilty and sentenced them to three years in prison. The police personnel were out on bail after spending only a few months. Some of the cops were re-arrested after the high court and the apex court subsequently upheld the convictions.
Parmar and Mandole filed petitions in the high court claiming they had sought mercy from the President and were granted pardon in February 2010. The duo has sought reinstatement and all consequential benefits due to them.
However, the badly-written “pardon” aroused the judges’ suspicion, who asked the prosecution to verify the document. The police inquired with the President’s office which denied granting any such pardon. The police also informed the court that in 2003, Mandole was accused of forging a letter, which he claimed was written by NCP president Sharad Pawar.