No protection until we know where you are: SC to Mumbai ex-top cop
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday asked former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who has sought protective orders, to disclose his location, saying “no protection, no hearing until we know where you are”.
The apex court asked his lawyer to inform about Singh’s whereabouts and posted the matter for hearing on November 22.
A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul took exception that his plea seeking protection has been filed through power of attorney.
“You are seeking protective orders; nobody knows where you are. Suppose you are sitting abroad and taking legal recourse through power of attorney then what happens. If that is so then you will come to
India if the court rules in your favour, we don’t know what you have in mind.
No protection, no hearing until we know where you are,” said the bench also comprising Justice M M Sundresh.
It further said: “The petition has been filed through power of attorney. Where are you. Are you in this country or outside? In some state, where are you. We will come to the remaining, first we know where you are?”
A magistrate court in Bombay on Wednesday declared Singh a “proclaimed offender” in an extortion case registered against him and some other police officers in the city.
Singh had last attended his office in May this year after which he went on leave. The state police had told the Bombay High Court last month that his whereabouts were not known.
The crime branch of Mumbai Police, which is probing the extortion case, had sought the proclamation against him, saying that the IPS officer could not be traced even after the issuance of a non-bailable warrant.
Under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a court can publish a proclamation requiring an accused to appear if a warrant issued against him or her cannot be executed.