Baba Siddiqui file photo
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Mumbai Police to file their reply affidavits in response to a petition filed by Shehzeen Siddique, the wife of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, seeking transfer of the probe into her husband’s murder to court-monitored investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or an independent agency.
The Bombay High Court asked the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) and Investigating officer (IO) to file affidavits.
Siddique, a senior politician and former Maharashtra minister, was known for his connections in the entertainment world and a sort of celebrity himself, was shot dead on October 12, 2024 in the Bandra East area of Mumbai.
The three-time MLA had quit the Congress last year and joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
The Nirmal Nagar police station initially registered an FIR into the incident, however, later the Crime Branch-CID too stepped in and joined the probe.
A division bench of Justice Ajey Gadkari and Justice RR Bhonsale issued the direction after the police claimed they had been in touch with Baba Siddique’s son Zeeshan Siddique, though the petitioner’s lawyers, Pradip Gharat and Trivankumar Karnani, said his statement was not recorded.
“Show us the case diary. You say the statement of Zeeshan is recorded. He says it is not yet recorded. Support it with a case diary,” the HC said, while rejecting the police’s verbal assurance.
When the Special Public Prosecutor Mahesh Mule submitted that the police had been in touch with Zeeshan many times and had WhatsApp chats and call records to show for it, the bench remarked: “He is in contact or not, we are not concerned. Show us legally admissible evidence. This is a crime investigation.”
It may be mentioned, the case is registered under Sections 103(1), 109, 125, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), read with Sections 3, 5, 25, and 27 of the Arms Act, and Sections 37 and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act (MPA).
In January this year, the Mumbai police filed the chargesheet.
So far, the Mumbai police have arrested 26 persons for the murder.
Siddique’s son and former MLA Zeeshan Siddique, in his police statement, had named several builders and political leaders connected with slum rehabilitation (SRA) projects in Bandra and had sought a probe into their suspected link with the murder of his father.
The police, in its investigation, have pointed out Baba Siddique’s close ties with actor Salman Khan, who had been a target of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang since the blackbuck hunting case of Rajasthan.