Thane Police on Wednesday assured the Bombay High Court that it would register an FIR in the Badlapur custodial death case by May 3 after the court reprimanded it over the special investigation team’s (SIT) failure to book the five accused police personnel.

A Division Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale accepted the statement submitted by public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar, which came after the court expressed its displeasure over the SIT’s reasoning for not lodging the FIR.

The SIT had cited that it was waiting for the parents of the victim, Akshay Shinde, an accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, to come forward and file a formal complaint.

The Bench said even if the petitioner may eventually withdraw the plea, it did not mean that the parents did not have any complaint or that an FIR would not be filed.

“This is sheer misuse of the court’s time. These are very sorry state of affairs. There is a responsibility cast on the police. This is a complete defiance of our order,” the Bench said.

The court said the police had a duty to act independently and fairly in such cases.

The court noted that the CID had handed over the documents in the case to the SIT on April 25, giving it four days to take action.

‘Contempt proceedings’

“Do not let public faith in the system down. There is a dead body. It is an unnatural death. What more revelation do you want to lodge [an] FIR? A cognisable offence is committed; you ought to have complied with the court’s orders. We have no option but to initiate contempt proceedings,” it said.

Mr. Venegaonkar informed the Bench that police inspector Mangesh Desai has been nominated as the complainant in the case. He would review the documents, after which his statement would be recorded as the complaint, and the FIR would be filed by May 3.