Overview
- The Mumbai sessions court directed a magistrate to summon former state police chief Satish Mathur and other ACB officers for not filing an FIR against MHADA officials.
- The judge set aside a 2022 magistrate order that had dismissed the case and told the magistrate to restore the complaint and record the complainant’s and witnesses’ evidence.
- The court ordered process under IPC sections 166A, 217, 218, and 34 after finding prima facie offences tied to delays and procedural violations.
- The complaint alleges MHADA officials and about 389 developers failed to surrender over 1.37 lakh square metres of surplus saleable area, causing an alleged loss of roughly Rs 14,000 crore.
- The judge criticized officers for keeping the matter in a prolonged ‘inquiry’ and seeking opinions from the very department under probe, a rebuke that could spur fresh scrutiny of MHADA projects and police handling of graft cases.