The Bombay High Court has sharply criticized the Maharashtra government for its inaction in forming a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and registering an FIR against five police officers involved in the Badlapur encounter case, where a POCSO accused was killed. This failure comes despite clear court directives issued over a month ago.

Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr. Neela Gokhale expressed their dismay to Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar, stating "First and foremost, this should not have happened," adding that the government appeared to have made a "deliberate attempt" to avoid complying with court orders.

The bench described the government's inaction as a "brazen violation" of its directives and considered initiating criminal contempt proceedings. "We are appalled. How can the state government not follow the orders passed by the high court? Criminal contempt proceedings will have to be initiated if the case papers are not transferred today itself," the court warned.

On April 7, the court had issued a judgment mandating the formation of an SIT under Joint Commissioner of Police Lakhmi Gautam in Mumbai. Since the parents of Akshay Shinde (the encounter victim) had withdrawn their petition seeking an SIT investigation, the court had ordered that a police officer must file an FIR if the family did not come forward.

Shinde, who was accused of sexually assaulting two schoolgirls in Badlapur, Thane district, died on September 23, 2024, while being transported by police from Taloja prison to Kalyan. Police claimed he was killed in retaliatory fire after he allegedly shot at them from inside the police van.

The court noted that while the prosecution had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP), it had failed to take action for an entire month. The bench emphasized, "Had you been so aggrieved you ought to have moved the first court (of the Supreme Court) and sought an urgent hearing," adding that filing an SLP does not stay the High Court's orders.

The issue resurfaced when Senior Advocate Manjula Rao, the court-appointed Amicus Curiae, highlighted that the April 7 order remained unimplemented even after a month. The bench observed that 18 days had passed beyond the deadline for filing the FIR against the five police officers, with no action taken.