MUMBAI, July 12 -- The Bombay High Court reprimanded the police for failing to maintain case diaries in a proper format as mandated by law. It ordered Rashmi Shukla, the Director General of Police (DGP), to file a personal affidavit explaining whether the provisions of law enacted by Parliament were binding and mandatory on the state police personnel or if they are to be retained only in the books of law. A division bench of justices Ajey Gadkari and Rajesh Patil on Monday was hearing a petition pertaining to a dispute between a licensee and licensor of rented premises where one party accused the other of misappropriating its furniture. The judges were inspecting the case diary when they noticed that it was not maintained in a proper format. It also contained loose sheets of paper despite statutory requirements and several circulars having been issued by the DGP's office. "The case diary is maintained in an absolutely casual manner and loose leaf in a yellow-coloured plastic file. The first page of the case diary has no number or date. It is typed on a ledger paper. Pages no.1 to 13 are in loose sheets," the court observed. The court censured an assistant police inspector attached to the Vartak Nagar police station in Thane for failing to conduct a panchnama of the scene even 13 months after a First Information Report was registered. "This is unconscionable and unpardonable. It appears to us that in a disciplined police force, the police personnel themselves are not following the discipline and are not following the mandatory directions issued by the office of the Director General of Police," the court observed. The court also directed the DGP to initiate action against the investigating officer from Vartak Nagar police station for committing a breach of provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), (1972). The investigating officer had also violated various related circulars issued by the DGP on December 6, 2018, September 16, 2021, and February 12, 2024. "There is also a circular dated February 11, 2011, issued by the Home Department, Government of Maharashtra," the court noted while stating that police personnel in the state must follow the mandate of law....