CHANDRA DHARI SINGH, J (Oral)

1. The revision petition bearing CRL.REV.P. No. 444/2024 has been filed on behalf of Smt. Shalini Kapoor who is wife of the revisionist in CRL.REV.P. No. 685/2024. For the sake of convenience, this Court is treating the position of parties as per the petition bearing no. 444/2024. The brief facts leading to the instant revision petitions are as follows:

a) The petitioner and the respondent got married in the year 2010 as per the Hindu rituals and a child was born out of the wedlock in the year 2013.

CHANDRA DHARI SINGH, J (Oral)

1. The revision petition bearing CRL.REV.P. No. 444/2024 has been filed on behalf of Smt. Shalini Kapoor who is wife of the revisionist in CRL.REV.P. No. 685/2024. For the sake of convenience, this Court is treating the position of parties as per the petition bearing no. 444/2024. The brief facts leading to the instant revision petitions are as follows:

a) The petitioner and the respondent got married in the year 2010 as per the Hindu rituals and a child was born out of the wedlock in the year 2013.

11.Date on which Order Announced : 12.11.2024.

SC No. 464/2021 FIR No. 417/2021 U/s. 307 IPC State Vs. Ram @ Himanshu PS : Badarpur Page No.1 of 31 BRIEF FACTS AND REASONS FOR DECISION:

1. The prosecution case against accused Ram @ Himanshu in brief is that on 11/07/2021, at about 08:30 PM, at Main Market, Gautam Puri, near Valmiki Mandir, within the jurisdiction of PS Badarpur, he caused injuries on forehead and occipital region exposing bone calvaria of victim Dinesh Kumar, with chopper (meat cutting knife). The FIR was registered on the basis of PCR call through GD No.90A and accused Ram @ Himanshu was arrested on 12/07/2021 and, on completion of investigation, the charge-sheet was filed for offence U/s. 307 IPC.

Illustration/Uday Mohite

I knew two Mumbai cops. Two Mumbai cops who went to the same college as me. Yeah, Ashok Kamte and Himanshu Roy were marginally junior to me at St Xaviers' College. Two Bombay boys who became police officers and subsequently looked after the city they grew up in.

One who followed in his father's footsteps as a policeman. The other who chose not to become a doctor like his parents. There was an incredibly tragic irony when Ashok was shot on 26/11 in the narrow lane that separated our college from Rang Bhavan. (It's no surprise that Ashok and Himanshu considered each other brothers — and Himanshu always regretted not being in Mumbai, standing side by side with Ashok, when he was gunned down).

I knew Himanshu Roy a bit. Mumbai is a small city in spite of its size. And, South Mumbai an even smaller world. Himanshu was born and brought up in Colaba, schooled in Campion, and graduated from our college.

I first met him in 1995 at a friend, Mark Manuel's home. He was then an incredibly, lean, bespectacled man — wiry and tall. And I remember thinking he was very gangly for a cop. But he exuded great hunger. There was a glint in his eyes, a manner in his demeanour, a strength in that stick-like figure. I'll never forget that bristling energy. He was like a coiled snake, ready for action, ready to change the world, ready to catch the bad guys, a superhero without the cape and mask. He was idealistic and worldly wise at the same time. (It perhaps requires those two qualities, to join the force and survive). He was about to leave for Nashik, from where he returned two years later, with rippling Popeye arms and a barrel chest.

There is something incredibly brave in deciding to become a Mumbai cop. Not just because of the valour required in handling criminals. But, of the skill needed in navigating a system run by politicians.

It was no surprise that the cases he handled were of a diverse nature. IPL spot-fixing, the J Dey and Pallavi Purkayastha murders, the riots of Khairlanji. He devised anti-dacoity measures in rural Maharashtra, cracked the Shakti Mills rape case. He set up Mumbai's first Cyber Crime Cell, and established a special cell to deal with crimes related to women.

So, the news that he'd shot himself in his flat, was incredibly sad. Cancer had wreaked havoc on his body and perhaps he saw no other way out. But suicide is always a many-sided Hydra. The debate on whether it is a brave move, a cowardly act, a desperate measure or a selfish resolution will rage on forever.

But for me, there is always one trait linked to killing oneself — loneliness. Whether Himanshu 'Hercules' Roy was lonely in his final hour we'll never know. But, a man who'd spent his life protecting a city, ultimately couldn't protect himself.

Goodbye, big man, I'm sure you're out there somewhere, looking out for us.

Rahul da Cunha is an adman, theatre director/playwright, photographer and traveller. Reach him at rahuldacunha62@gmail.com

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