IPS officer Bhagyashree Navtake approaches Bombay High Court seeking quashing of FIR registered in Pune

Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Bhagyashri Navtake, who was booked by the Pune police for forgery and criminal conspiracy, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the case. In her plea, Navtake stated that the FIR filed against her was “vague and illegal” and violated the principles of natural justice as she was not given an opportunity to explain the charges against her. She also claimed that some of the allegations against her were baseless.

The case against Navtake was initiated on the basis of a CID report which pointed out procedural lapses in an alleged Rs 1,200 crore fraud case involving Bhaichand Hirachand Raisoni Credit Society in Pune district and other unidentified persons. This was done on the instructions of the Maharashtra Home Department. The IPS officer headed the Special Investigation Team as DCP (Economic Offence Wing) in 2021-22 to investigate cases related to the alleged fraud.

Navtake was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), 466 (forgery of judicial record or public record, etc.)[.]), 474 (possession of forged documents) and 201 (disappearance of evidence).

“On a single day, three different cases were registered under a single crime, which amounts to procedural malpractice and forgery of documents. In two cases, the complainant was not even present during the registration of the cases. The complainant’s signatures were found (on the documents) even though he was not present during the registration of the FIRs,” said a Pune police officer.

Navtake is currently posted as Superintendent of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) in Chandrapur.

The 2015 fraud allegedly aimed to defraud a large number of people by promising attractive interest rates on fixed-term deposits.