In a sharp rebuke to Maharashtra Police, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the state government to set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the assault on a 17-year-old boy during the Akola riots of May 2023. The Court said the police “never followed up” despite early hospital reports showing the teenager’s head injuries from the communal violence.
Background
Mohammad Afzal Mohammad Sharif, then a minor, was attacked while returning home late at night on May 13, 2023, when riots flared in Akola over a social media post. He told the court that four unidentified men first murdered an autorickshaw driver, Vilas Mahadevrao Gaikwad, apparently mistaking him for a Muslim, and then beat Afzal with iron rods and a sword. Afzal required stitches for a serious head wound and was treated at Icon Multispecialty Hospital.
Afzal’s family said the police recorded his statement in hospital but never registered a First Information Report (FIR). Weeks later, even after a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police on June 1, 2023, no separate case for the assault was filed. A chargesheet was eventually filed only for the murder of Gaikwad, leaving Afzal out of the investigation.
The bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma expressed surprise that senior state officials left affidavits to a local inspector despite allegations against a Superintendent of Police. “Once the police station was informed of a medico-legal case involving an assault, a duty was cast upon them to register an FIR,” the court said, quoting Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The judges rejected the Bombay High Court’s earlier finding that Afzal or his relatives should have chased the police to act. “Members of the police force must shed personal predilections and biases… Unfortunately, in this case, that did not happen,” the bench remarked.
Decision
Allowing Afzal’s appeal, the Supreme Court ordered the Maharashtra Home Secretary to constitute an SIT with senior Hindu and Muslim officers. This team must register a fresh FIR on the assault, investigate all allegations, and report back within three months. The court also directed disciplinary action against officers who failed in their duties and asked the state to sensitise its force on mandatory FIR registration.
Case Title: Mohammad Afzal Mohammad Sharif vs. State of Maharashtra & Others, Supreme Court of India, Criminal Appeal (SLP Criminal No. 8494 of 2025)
Incident Date: 13 May 2023, during communal riots in Akola, Maharashtra.
