MUMBAI: Nearly 20 years after a criminal case was filed alleging a conspiracy to kill a builder in a redevelopment dispute, the Bombay High Court has accepted the State CID’s ‘B-Summary’ closure report in the matter involving Shreepati builder managing director Rajendra Chaturvedi.It said that investigators found no material against the accused and that a Magistrate’s earlier refusal to accept the closure report went against the evidence gathered during the probe.A division bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata, in an order dated July 27, allowed a writ petition filed by Chaturvedi and a criminal revision application filed by the State CID.The court quashed and set aside the January 30, 2013 order of the Metropolitan Magistrate, 10th Court, Andheri, and accepted the B-Summary report submitted by the State CID, Konkan Bhavan, Navi Mumbai.The case originated in 2007 amid a dispute linked to a redevelopment project at Kalachowky, said to be worth around Rs 500 crore. Chaturvedi had contended that he was falsely implicated in a case alleging a plot to eliminate rival builder Rashmikant Shah.As per the allegations in the initial case, Juhu police in February 2007 intercepted four men near the Holiday Inn hotel in Juhu and claimed they had been hired to kill Shah.The police had alleged that Chaturvedi paid Rs 50 lakh for the alleged contract killing. The case had also, at one stage, seen consideration of invoking provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).Chaturvedi denied the allegations and maintained that the case was driven by business rivalry and efforts to frame him. The matter was later transferred for investigation to the State CID.During the CID probe, the agency raised questions about the prosecution narrative and indicated an alleged nexus involving the rival builder and certain police officers, suggesting Chaturvedi may have been framed.The investigation led to action against police personnel, with seven policemen suspended in connection with the matter, including then Additional Commissioner of Police Bipin Bihari, who has since retired.The CID also re-examined witness claims about the purported Juhu incident. According to findings placed before the Andheri court, witnesses who had earlier asserted they were present when Shah was allegedly fired at later denied that any such incident occurred.On the basis of its investigation, the State CID concluded there was no material to proceed against the accused and filed a B-Summary report seeking closure on February 13, 2008.The agency also submitted a report under Section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, seeking discharge of some accused due to insufficient evidence.
