Nagpur: In a new turn of events, Principal District & Sessions Judge Dinesh P Surana in Nagpur on Monday took suo motu cognisance of the dramatic midnight arrest of Ram Jhula mishap case accused Ritika alias Ritu Maloo by the State CID on September26 despite being a woman. As per law, no woman can be arrested after sunset and before sunrise except in unavoidable circumstances with the permission of a magistrate.
Utilising powers under Section 438 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Section 397 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), the Principal District & Sessions Judge entertained the suo motu revision for the purpose of satisfaction as to the correctness, legality and propriety of the findings and the order of Judicial Magistrate First Class (Court No 4) Archana Khedkar-Garad granting permission to arrest accused Ritika alias Ritu Maloo after sunset and before sunrise in the night of September 25.
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Principal District & Sessions Judge Surana issued notices to the prosecution, State CID and Ritika Maloo. The matter would now come up for hearing before the Judge Surana on October 3. As per law, if the police want to arrest any woman after sunset and before sunrise, they have to seek prior permission of the magistrate and arrest should be made by a lady police officer. After 10 pm on September 25, JMFC Khedkar-Garad had granted permission to CID officers to arrest Ritika after sunset citing exceptional circumstances when Additional Sessions Judge R S Patil-Bhosale had quashed her bail order and set it aside.
Interestingly, JMFC Khedkar-Garad herself had rejected the application of the State CID seeking a 10- day remand of Ritika Maloo the next day after she was arrested. State CID officers had picked up Ritika Maloo from her Deshpande Layout residence allegedly around 1.45 am on September 26. Her arrest was shown on record allegedly at 5.30 am. She was then kept in the lock-up at Lakadganj Police Station before she was produced before JMFC Khedkar-Garad by Investigating Officer DySP (CID) Hanmant Kshirsagar at 3.50 pm on September 26. She is now in Central Jail after the court remanded her to magisterial custody.
Ritika Maloo who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, drove her Mercedes car in a rash and negligent manner and collided with a Honda Activa scooter killing two young men — Mohd Hussain Gulam Mustafa and Mohd Ateef Mohd Zia — at Ram Jhula in the small hours of February 25. A case was registered under Sections 304, 201,427 of the Indian Penal Code, read with Sections 184, 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act, against Ritika Maloo, her husband Dinesh Bajrang Maloo (42), both residents of Plot No 1418-B, Deshpande Layout and Madhuri Sarda (37), a resident of Wardhaman Nagar, at Tehsil Police Station.
The High Court had entrusted further investigation to the State CID. After the notices of the suo motu cognisance taken by the Principal & Sessions Judge about accused Maloo’s midnight arrest were served, Additional Public Prosecutor G N Dubey waived them for prosecution and investigation agency. Defence counsel Adv Chandrashekhar Jaltare filed the memorandum of appearance for accused Maloo.
Meanwhile, the prosecution filed a revision petition in the Sessions Court against JMFC Khedkar-Garad’s order rejecting police custody remand of accused Maloo. The revision petition is likely to come up for preliminary hearing on October 1.
