Thane police have dropped all charges against the two girls arrested for condemning the shutdown of Mumbai on Facebook, following Shiv Sena Leader Bal Thackeray's demise.
The police filed a closure report on Tuesday in the Palghar Court against the complaint stating it to be false.
Vijaykant Sagar, Deputy Superintend of Police, Boisar, said, "We filed a final report - C-summary - in the Palghar court. It was admitted by the Judge," The Hindu quoted him as saying.
Reports say, Shaheen Dhada had made a post in Facebook, lamenting the closure of Mumbai for the funeral of Bal Thackeray, and Rinu Shrinivasan had liked the comment. On Nov. 19 both were arrested after Bhushan Sankhe, Chief of Shiv Sena's Palghar unit, filed a complaint against the girls including the IPC Sections 295 (A), 505(2) and IT Act. Dhada and Rinu were later produced in Palghar court and set free on bail.
The incident reportedly created a huge uproar across the country and the intervention of the Press Council chairman Markandey Katju stirred the matter further. He sent letters to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan seeking action against police officers involved in the arrest of Dhada and Rinu, following which the police issued a statement assuring that the girls would not be chargesheeted.
The girl's lawyer Sudhir Gupta was dissatisfied with the investigation. He claims the police should have filed a B-summary report instead of a C-summary one. He said, "If it is a B-summary report, the police have to become the complainant and register a case against the original complainant, stating that he had complained to the police with malicious intent," he told The Hindu.
The report says that the government filed a C-summary report to elude investigation against Bhushan Sankhe, who would then have been prosecuted for misleading police with false information.
