The parents of Akshay Shinde, accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case, have opted to withdraw their petition for an SIT probe into his ‘fake encounter’ death.

MUMBAI: The parents of Akshay Shinde, accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case, told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that they do not want to pursue their petition seeking a probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into his “fake encounter” death.
They also urged the bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela Gokhale with folded hands. “Amhala case ladaycha nahin (We don’t want to pursue the case),” the mother said.
The father also said, “Bandh kara case (Stop the case).” When asked by the judges if they were under pressure to make these statements, Akshay’s parents denied it. They said they were tired of running around and, as their daughter-in-law had delivered a child and she lives alone, they want to be with her. However, the judges remarked that “so much has happened (since the hearing of the case began) ” and “the case cannot be closed like this.”
The incident took place near the Mumbra bypass after 6 pm on September 23 while Akshay was being taken from Taloja jail to the Thane crime branch by the police.
He was declared dead at 7.52 pm at Chhatrapati Shivaji Hospital, Kalwa. On the father’s petition seeking an SIT probe into his son’s murder, the High Court expedited the magistrate’s inquiry.
Besides the SIT probe into his son’s “murder,” the father also urged the high court to direct the registration of an FIR against erring policemen, to preserve CCTV footage, and for compensation. On January 20, a report by Ashok Shendge, inquiry magistrate, JMFC Court, Thane, was submitted to the High Court.
The magistrate found five policemen responsible for Akshay’s death. They are SPI Sanjay Shinde, API Nilesh More, head constables Abhijeet More and Harish Tawade, and constable Satish Khatal, who was driving the van where the “encounter” took place. The judges then observed that in view of the findings, “we want you to register an FIR.”
Special public prosecutor Amit Desai said the State CID wants to conduct further investigation before registering an FIR based on the magistrate’s report.
He said the magistrate had gathered materials which were not submitted by the police. They said they want these materials to be placed before a judicial commission headed by Justice (retd) Dilip Bhosale, set up by the govt in October 2024 to investigate the encounter, who will look into them. “All we are saying is when a cognisable offence is disclosed, are you not duty-bound to file an FIR?” asked Justice Mohite Dere.
The father’s advocate asked that when there is a magistrate’s report indicting the policemen, “what precludes the State from registering an FIR?” He said it was clearly discrimination between a poor person and the policemen. “If the judicial magistrate has said it was a totally fake encounter, then the only final conclusion is to register an FIR against them,” he added. The judges said they will pass an interim order.