Hearing a petition alleging sexual abuse of a minor, the Bombay High Court today directed Maharashtra Government to file an affidavit stating what steps it had taken to implement the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenders Act. The direction was given by justices A M Khanwilkar and K K Tated on a petition filed by NGO ‘Sakhee’ alleging that an education baron and his eight associates had sexually assaulted a 16-year-old servant at his farmhouse in Pune. The petition demanded that a special court be set up under the Act to hear the case and sought transfer of the matter to an independent investigation authority. It alleged that local police was conniving with accused and said the servant was still working for the businessman. The court had earlier asked the grievance committee formed by the state government against police to consider the suggestion of transferring the investigation to an independent body. However, the Committee informed the Court today that there was no need to take such a step. The bench then asked the Committee to file an affidavit giving reasons why transfer of investigation was not required in this case. On August 18 last year, a complaint was filed against Jondhale and others saying that they had sexually assaulted the boy. However, they refuted the allegations. PTI
