Is a criminal entitled to human rights? While the Maharashtra state human rights commission (SHRC) does not think so, the Bombay high court refused to toe this line. The court referred the complaint, filed by the wife of a former aide of gangster-turned-MLA Arun Gawli, back to the SHRC with directions that the chairperson himself should hear the matter. Now the SHRC has directed that only the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) should summon Shaikh Khan and that too after putting it in writing.
On a writ petition filed by Rizwana, wife of Shaikh, the court said it was unfortunate the SHRC made a sweeping remark that the police are supposed to keep watch on such persons who have bad records and that “there is no violation of human rights”.
“As the police could not find me, they told my wife that I would be killed in an encounter. The police even abused her,” Shaikh said. His lawyer Bhavesh Parmar said, “There has been no summons and the police cannot just walk into anybody’s house and abuse the family members. There are Supreme Court rulings on this.”