Overview

• The Supreme Court has instructed Maharashtra DGP Rashmi Shukla to constitute and oversee a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the custodial death of Akshay Shinde.
• Shinde, accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls in Badlapur, was shot dead in a police van on September 23, 2024, in what police claimed was retaliatory firing.
• A magisterial inquiry found inconsistencies in the police's self-defence claim and indicted five officers, including a senior inspector and assistant inspector, for their roles in the incident.
• The Supreme Court's order modifies an April directive from the Bombay High Court, which had tasked Joint Commissioner Lakhmi Gautam with forming the SIT, following the state’s appeal for DGP-led supervision.
• The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been ordered to transfer all case documents to the SIT within two days to facilitate the registration of an FIR against the implicated officers.