The Bombay High Court on Friday pulled back the Maharashtra police, asking them to state what they have against IPS officer Saurabh Tripathi and whether they plan to file a case against him.
A bench of justices AS Gadkari and Neela Gokhale heard the plea filed by Tripathi to withdraw the FIR registered against him and others by others. angadias (persons involved in securing the transportation of valuable goods).
Advocate Sanjeev Kadam, who represents Tripathi, said there is nothing concrete about this police officer. “His name has not been disclosed to the Fire Department and he has been given the expected bail. The charge against him is that he was not properly supervised,” said Kadam, adding that the case documents had not yet been opened.
Tripathi and his brother-in-law, Ashutosh Mishra, who is an assistant commissioner of sales tax, are accused of involvement in the fraud case. Both had approached the High Court, seeking withdrawal of the FIR filed against them. The bench said it will hear both the petitions of Mishra and Tripathi on October 4.
Based on the complaint of Bhuleshwar Angadia Association, Mumbai Police registered a case against police inspectors Om Wangate, Nitin Kadam and assistant inspector Samadhan Jamdade at LT Marg police station on February 18, 2022.
It is said that some police officers at the LT Marg station have started arresting them angadias at the police station they forcefully took money out of their pockets. I angadias he met Tripathi, who was then posted as Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone Two.
I angadias complained to Tripathi about the behavior of his police officers but it is said that he did not stand up and demanded R10 lakh to run his business properly.
In March 2022, the state government suspended Tripathi. He was found absent from work without notifying the authorities. It also found that he failed to ensure that the employees under him did not engage in acts of corruption and misconduct.
In November 2022, the Supreme Court granted Tripathi immunity from arrest. In July 2023, the state government revoked Tripathi’s suspension and reinstated him.
Tripathi is currently serving as Superintendent of Police in the state intelligence department.