The Bombay High Court today rejected the bail applications of three policemen, including a head constable attached to the Dharavi police station, who have been arrested for sexually abusing and torturing a waiter in the police station on September 18, 1999.

``Considering the gravity of the crime that is accentuated by the fact that the accused are the police whose duty was to prevent commission of offences, instead of committing them in the premises of the police station,'' Justice Vishnu Sahai today rejected their bail applications.

Raghunath Sutar, a head constable alongwith constables Manohar Gaikwad and Krishna Utekar were arrested on the complaint of one Ramchandra Poojari, a waiter in Hotel Vilas in Dharavi. According to the complainant, he was sitting with a friend in midnight in Sudarshan Hotel on October 18, which was a dry day, and sipping an aerated drink, when three constables in plainclothes approached them and suspected that heand his friend, Damodar were drinking liquor.

However, they did not seem to be satisfied, and later returned in their police uniforms with two other police officials and took them to the police station. They then made allegedly seated Pujari on the loft of the police station and sexually abused him. Pujari was also hit with a leather belt. The duo were allowed to go home on September 19, at 3.45 am.

Pujari then complained about the police and identified them as the three accused. Their bail applications were refused by the Principal Judge, Sessions Court on October 12. Today, Justice Vishnu Sahai observed that there was ``No plausible reason which could explain any false implications of the applicants'' as was argued by the defendents.

Justice Sahai, who noted that the statements that incriminated the three policemen also included head constable Gadhsi and constable Bendre, observed that the court had to take a ``stern view in such cases lest such kind of barbarism assumes menacing proportions. Thepolice must realise that they are not above law''.

MHADA scheme for Malwani colony extended

The Bombay High Court today extended the MHADA ownership scheme for the MHADA colony at Gaikwad Nagar, Malwani by two weeks to enable those interested to pay the ownership amount to the housing board. The occupants at this colony had earlier a deadline of October 8, following an earlier order of the court.

Following the arguments of the counsel for the petitioners, Peter Lobo, who had argued that the tenants were not interested in the new scheme but would pay for the ownership scheme under MHADA, the court had earlier directed that the scheme be reopened for those willing to be a part of the MHADA scheme. Lobo told the court that following this order, around 1,284 occupants of the total of 2,500 occupants had paid the money to MHADA and around 330 drafts of payment were ready, which had to be submitted to MHADA. The court today directed these payments to be made to the MHADA office and following hisrequest directed that the scheme remain open for two more weeks for the rest of the others interested to join the MHADA scheme.

The matter will now be heard on November 18, 1999.

Petition on Worli Sagar society disposed of

The High Court today disposed of a petition that urged for a CBI probe into the alleged loss of Rs 120 crore to the state exchequer due to irregularities by way of sale, lease or sub-letting of flats in the Worli Sagar Cooperative Society which has MPs, MLAs and mlcs as its members.

The bench was of the view that nothing survived in the petition in view of the notification, issued by the government to regularise such transactions with restrospective effect. However, the court gave liberty to the petitioner, former MLA Dinanath Gajanan Kamat, to challenge the notification.

According to the notification, a member of such a society could not sell his flat for five years after the allotment. But he could do so thereafter after he paid the transfer fees which were categorisedaccording to the period. In case of transfers of flats to close relatives, the fee had been waived.

At the previous hearing on August 5, the advocate general informed that the government had taken a policy decision to come out with such a notification. He had also said in the case of Worli Sagar, the flats had been transferred earlier and in all such cases transfer fees would be charged from the flat owners.