Thane Police Admit Case Diary Lapses In Advocate Sarita Khanchandani Suicide Case; Disciplinary Action Against 4 Officers

Mumbai, September 12, 2026: The Thane police have filed a 13-page affidavit before the Bombay High Court, where it has accepted and admitted to lapses in the maintenance and supervision of a case diary in connection with the alleged suicide case of Advocate Sarita Khanchandani.

This affidavit comes after the Bombay High Court had directed the police to submit a status report concerning the status of investigation into the case. The affidavit says that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against four officers and the investigation transferred to another officer.

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Police Admit Case Diary Lapses

The disclosure by Dr Panjabrao Ugale, Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Thane, was done in an affidavit filed in connection with a Writ Petition filed by the deceased advocate’s husband, Advocate Purshottam Lilaram Khanchandani.

The affidavit states that Ugale personally scrutinised the case diary after the High Court, in its August 21, 2026 order, raised concerns over the manner in which it had been maintained.

He found that the diary had not been properly maintained by the investigating officers. The police station in-charge had also failed to ensure that a properly paginated and stamped case diary was handed over to the investigating officer at the beginning of the investigation.

The police further admitted that the certificate required to be annexed at the end of the case diary had not been filled in and that the pages had not been numbered.

The investigation was conducted by Assistant Police Inspector Harshal Kulkarni from August 28, 2025, to June 22, 2026, followed by Assistant Police Inspector Apeksha Jadhav. The affidavit records that case diary entries dated August 1 and August 21, 2026, were also not paginated.

Disciplinary Action Initiated

Following an inquiry, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 4, Ulhasnagar, found lapses on the part of Kulkarni and Jadhav in maintaining the diary.

The officer, Jadhav, though, called them a discrepancy/error in question that had occurred due to a bona fide human error and that the same was neither intentional nor deliberate.

“All the papers forming part of the said Case Diary were bound together in one single set and were maintained as one complete set of records. I say that the contents of the Case Diary, in so far as the investigation actually conducted is concerned, reflect the steps undertaken by the Investigating Officers from time to time. The discrepancy noticed by this Court pertains to the numbering of the blank pages attached at the end of the Case Diary and same appears to be unintentional procedural lapse. The same may kindly not be construed as an attempt to fabricate, alter or suppress the investigation or any material relating thereto. I further say that there was no mala fide intention whatsoever on the part of the concerned Investigating Officer or any other police officer to suppress, alter, manipulate, fabricate or misrepresent any part of the investigation or the proceedings conducted in the present case,” reads the affidavit.

The affidavit says Kulkarni, who has since been transferred to Thane Rural, has had his default report forwarded to the Superintendent of Police, Thane Rural, seeking appropriate disciplinary action.

Reports concerning Jadhav and two other officers have similarly been forwarded to the Commissioner of Police, Thane City, for disciplinary action.

Investigation Transferred

Meanwhile, the Senior Inspector of Vitthalwadi Police Station ordered the transfer of the investigation to the Police Inspector (Crime) of the same police station on August 31, 2026.

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The Joint Commissioner has also assured the High Court that supervisory mechanisms will be adopted to ensure periodic scrutiny of case diaries maintained by investigating officers in Thane and that deficiencies will be immediately brought to the notice of senior officers and rectified.

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