The Supreme Court has given a clean chit to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Meeran Borwankar, who had been issued strictures by the Bombay High Court for reportedly sending Powai resident Asha Bajaj to a mental hospital in Pune after Bajaj had allegedly stalked her and sent marriage proposals for the officer’s elder son.

Setting aside the strictures, a division bench of the Supreme Court recently came down heavily on the High Court for making “uncalled for” observations against the IGP’s conduct.

In June last year, Bajaj, a gold medallist from Mumbai University, had landed at Borwankar’s Pune residence saying she was in love with the officer. Borwankar then informed the Cantonment police, who detained Bajaj and later moved her to the mental hospital at Yerwada. Bajaj later escaped and moved the High Court, saying she was interested in marrying not Borwankar but her elder son Nikhil. Bajaj alleged that Borwankar had assaulted her and sent her to the mental hospital because she did not like the proposal.

After the High Court passed the strictures, Borwankar filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. In an order dated September 11, Supreme Court judges D K Jain and H L Dattu expunged the observations on the officer’s behaviour made on October 22, 2008 passed by High Court judges Bilal Nazki and A A Kumbhakoni.

“Having carefully gone through the said order in light of the material on record, including the SMS messages, we are of the considered opinion that the observations made by the High Court on the conduct of the petitioner, particularly in Para 11 of its order, were clearly uncalled for,” ruled the apex court.

... contd.