Mumbai: Expressing displeasure over the lackadaisical probe by the police into the complaint by the dance group V Unbeatable, which recently won the ‘America’s Got Talent: The Champions’, alleging cheating by their manager, the Bombay High Court has directed the DCP, Crime Branch, Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar, to remain present in the court on Wednesday.
A bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan, on Tuesday, rapped the police for failing to probe various angles of the complaint and for taking a very long time to conduct the preliminary inquiry.
State’s advocate Prajakta Shinde informed the bench, on instruction from police inspector Pramod Badakh, attached to the Crime Branch, said the inquiry is ongoing and will take some more time.
Displeased, the judges remarked that the probe is not being conducted in a fair manner. “During the course of the hearing, we found that the investigation is not being carried out fairly by the concerned Officer. Several aspects which were disclosed to us by the learned APP (additional public prosecutor) are not in tune with what was disclosed by the learned Counsel for the petitioner and the allegations made by the petitioner,”the bench said.
The police ought to have probed whether prima facie cognisable offence was made out in the case. “What the officer ought to have looked into is whether a prima facie cognizable offence was made out for registration of an FIR or not,” the judges added.
Further, the court also took exception to the fact that the police had been conducting the “probe” in the case since the month of July, when the group approached it. It said that as per the apex court, a preliminary probe should be done in seven days. “The inquiry is going on for months, , contrary to the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Lalita Kumari Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh wherein it is held that preliminary inquiry is to be conducted within 7 days,” the bench underlined.
At this point, the bench then summoned the DCP concerned. “Considering the manner in which the case is being investigated, we direct the D.C.P., Crime Branch, Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar to remain present tomorrow i.e. on 16th October, 2024, since we are informed that the Additional Commissioner of Police is on leave,” the court said.
During the last hearing on September 26, Shinde had informed that the additional police commissioner, Mira-Bhayandar, had had transferred the four complaints lodged by the dance group and others from Mira Road Police Station to the Crime Branch, Virar, and Pramod Badakh will be looking into the same.
The troupe had approached the high court, through advocate Shravan Giri, alleging that their manager cheated them of their prize money and siphoned off the amount. He not only embezzled the prize money from their America’s Got Talent victory , but also from nearly 300 other shows that they performed. Their plea claims that they approached the police on July 24, however, the police refused to register an FIR. Despite escalating the issue to the DCP on July 25, no action was taken by the police.
