MUMBAI: Observing that the task of police officers during the Covid-19 pandemic was difficult and the city police, considered one of the best in the world after
Scotland Yard, were overburdened, the Bombay high court on Thursday directed a Navi Mumbai woman to cooperate with the cyber police in an investigation over her alleged offensive posts on the chief minister.
Sunaina Holey (38) had moved the high court to have the criminal cases against her quashed and for interim protection against arrest. She had been arrested in one case out of three against her and granted bail.
At the hearing, a bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice M S Karnik referred to the workload of the force when informed by J P Yagnik, a state prosecutor, that Holey had not appeared before the BKC cyber police despite a notice.
“The job of police officers is difficult during these times. Sometimes they have more than 12-hour shifts. Then they have to do bandobast for morchas and processions. With all these odds, the
Mumbai police is considered as one of the best in the world after Scotland Yard,” the bench said.
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Holey’s counsel, Abhinav Chandrachud, agreed.
“Yes, especially during Covid times, it has worked hard,” he said.
He said she could not appear earlier because of her health but was ready to appear before the investigating officer on November 2 at 11 am.
The bench in its order said it hoped and expected she would extend full cooperation to the city police.
The police in the city and Palghar had booked her for attempting to breach public peace and under the Information Technology Act for posts on chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his minister son, Aaditya, in July.