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Police commissioner Ronald Mendonca has said in an affidavit submitted to Mumbai high court that the Samajwadi Party's state president Abu Asim Azmi is "in close association with Dawood Ibrahim, as per police records... and is involved in the scandalous shoe seam case."
Mr Azmi's lawyer, Mr Majeed Memon, subsequently sent a notice to commissioner Mendonca on Friday, asking him to prove these charges in three days or face a defamation lawsuit.
The scrupulous Mr Mendonca, the only contender not to have lobbied for the post of commissioner, submitted the affidavit in response to Mr Azmi's petition on the death of peanut vendor Abu Sayama, shot dead by police inspector Vasant Dhoble in an alleged encounter. Inspector Dhoble believed Sayama to be the Chhota Shakeel man Javed Fawada.
Mr Mendoca's affidavit filed on the direction of high court divisional bench judges Justice Arvind Sawant, and S. Radhakrishnan, says: "With reference to paragraph 8 (of the Samajwadi Party writ petition), I say and submit that the first petitioner (Abu Asim Azmi) has a criminal record and is in close association with Dawood Ibrahim, as per police records. He was an accused in the serial bomb blast case and is involved in the scandalous shoe seam case." The case against Mr Azmi in the bomb blast case was
quashed by the Supreme Court last year. The commissioner of police's affidavit corroborates and affirms the charges submitted by inspector Dhoble of the detection of crime branch, on November 4. Mr Mendonca's affidavit comes in response to Mr Azmi's petition on the Jawed Fawada mistaken identity case. In paragraph 8 of Mr Azmi's petition, the Samajwadi Party leader says he went to Delhi along with a few party workers to present a memorandum dated. September 30, 1997, to Justice Venkatachaliah, chairperson
of the National Human Rights Commission.
According to Mr Majeed Memon, Mr Azmi had decided to send Mr Mendonca a notice as he was responsible for his junior officer. Mr Memon added that Mr Mendonca, in his affidavit, had very clearly stood by and reaffirmed whatever was mentioned in inspector Dhoble's application.
In the notice, Mr Azmi has denied having "any association leave alone close association" with Dawood Ibrahim in any manner.
About the statement in Mr Mendonca's affidavit that Mr Azmi is one of the accused in the bomb blasts case, Mr Memon's notice states, "The mention that my client was an accused in bomb blast case and leaving it at that is patently mischievous and tends to mislead the honourable court." Mr Azmi has also objected to being called "a person with a criminal record" as there are no proven charges against him of guilt in any criminal offence.
With reference to the Samajwadi Party leader's involvement in the multi-crore shoe scam, the notice notes that Mr Azmi continues to be out on an anticipatory bail order obtained from the Supreme Court on March 13, 1997. It further notes that Mr Azmi has not even been charge-sheeted in the case.
"If these facts were averred for whatever reasons, an inescapable duty is cast on the deponent to necessarily refer to discharge order of the honourable Supreme Court, Non-mention of such a vital truth amounts to contempt of court by omission," the notice reads.
Since all the charges made in the police affidavit are based on the Samajwadi Party petition on Javed Fawada, the notice notes that: "it must be said that all the aforesaid facts were irrelevant and out of context to the fact in issue."
At the end, the notice has asked the police to either prove the charges within three days or face prosecution. "I further call upon both of you to resist and refrain from calling my client an associate of Dawood Ibrahim hereafter any more or authenticate such irresponsible insinuations forthwith." The case will be heard on November 11 before the division bench. Mr Mendonca was in Thane on Saturday and therefore unavailable for comment.
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