When Mumbai was held ‘hostage’: From double-decker bus to flat
Mumbai (PTI): Mumbai on Thursday witnessed a tense situation where several children were held captive, perhaps for the first time, but the metropolis is no stranger to hostage crises, which in the past have pushed it to the edge and tested police efficiency in non-terror cases.
Police successfully concluded a nearly three-hour-long dramatic hostage situation, safely rescuing 17 children and two adults held at a studio in the Powai area by a person who died from a bullet injury sustained during police action.
The tense drama unfolded around 1:30 pm after the Powai police station received an alert that a person, identified as Rohit Arya (50), had taken 17 children hostage inside R A Studio in the Mahavir Classic building. The children, boys and girls between the ages of 10 to 12, had been called to the studio for an audition for a web series that had been ongoing for two days.
This may be the first of its kind situation in recent years in which a large number of children were held hostage, a police official said.
In the last decade or so, the financial capital has witnessed multiple hostage-taking scenarios.
In March 2010, a retired customs officer, Harish Marolia, had taken a 14-year-old girl hostage in suburban Andheri (West). The 60-year-old had held the girl, Himani, captive in his flat. Marolia had taken the step after an altercation with members of the housing society where the two resided, the official recalled.
Minutes before taking the girl hostage, Marolia had objected to construction work on one of the floors in his building. He had also threatened the housing society’s secretary by firing in the air.
The hostage drama came to a violent end when Marolia killed the teenager and he himself was subsequently shot dead by police.
In November 2008, a 25-year-old gunman from Bihar, Rahul Raj, held commuters in a double-decker civic-run bus hostage during the vehicle’s journey from Andheri. As the bus reached Bail Bazar in Kurla, nearly 100 policemen surrounded the bus.
When police asked Raj to surrender, he threw a currency note at them on which he had written that he had come to “kill” Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray, whose party had launched an anti-migrant agitation in Mumbai targeting North Indians.
Police shot dead the 25-year-old, bringing a bloody end to the crisis.
“In hostage situations, the most important thing is to save the life and ensure minimum damage. Negotiations are done keeping these two objectives in mind,” Shailni Sharma, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Nagpur, explained while talking to PTI over the phone.
Sharma was the first woman officer of the Mumbai police, who was sent for training to London for handling hostage situations after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
She was also called to train National Security Guard (NSG) commandos in 2022 in successfully handling hostage scenarios.
“When there is no headway in negotiations (with the hostage-taker), the operation team takes decisions as per the need of the time," Sharma said.
In the 2010 Andheri hostage incident, Sharma was called to negotiate with Marolia, but by then, a police team had barged inside the flat where he had taken the girl captive and opened fire at her.
In 2013 and 2017, the police officer saved two women, who were trying to end their lives, by talking and convincing them not to take the extreme step.
During anti-CAA and NRC protests in Mumbai, Sharma was posted as senior police inspector in Nagpada and handled the agitations through talks.
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Deep societal faultlines persist despite 75 years of independence: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
Judge cites denial of home to Muslim girl, opposition to Dalit women cooking mid-day meals
Hyderabad, February 23, 2026: Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has said that despite repeated affirmations of constitutional morality by courts, deep societal faultlines rooted in caste and religious discrimination continue to shape everyday realities in India.
Speaking at a seminar on “Constitutional Morality and the Role of District Judiciary” organised by the Telangana Judges Association and the Telangana State Judicial Academy in Hyderabad, Justice Bhuyan reflected on the gap between constitutional ideals and social practices.
He cited a recent instance involving his daughter’s friend, a PhD scholar at a private university in Noida, who was denied accommodation in South Delhi after her surname revealed her Muslim identity. According to Justice Bhuyan, the landlady bluntly informed her that no accommodation was available once her religious background became known.
In another example from Odisha, he referred to resistance by some parents to the government’s mid-day meal programme because the food was prepared by Dalit women employed as cooks. He noted that some parents had objected aggressively and refused to allow their children to consume meals cooked by members of the Scheduled Caste community.
Describing these incidents as “the tip of the iceberg,” Justice Bhuyan said they reveal how far society remains from the benchmark of constitutional morality even 75 years into the Republic. He observed that while the Constitution lays down standards of equality and dignity, the morality practised within homes and communities often diverges sharply from those values.
He emphasised that constitutional morality requires governance through the rule of law rather than the rule of popular opinion. Referring to the evolution of the doctrine through judicial decisions, he cited Naz Foundation v Union of India, in which the Delhi High Court read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, holding that popular morality cannot restrict fundamental rights under Article 21. Though the judgment was later overturned in Suresh Kumar Koushal v Naz Foundation, the Supreme Court ultimately restored and expanded the principle in Navtej Singh Johar v Union of India, affirming that constitutional morality must prevail over majoritarian views.
“In our constitutional scheme, it is the constitutionality of the issue before the court that is relevant, not the dominant or popular view,” he said.
Justice Bhuyan also addressed the functioning of the district judiciary, underlining that trial courts are the first point of contact for most litigants and form the foundation of the justice delivery system. He stressed that due importance must be given to the recording of evidence and adjudication of bail matters.
Highlighting the role of High Courts, he said their supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution is intended as a shield to correct grave jurisdictional errors, not as a mechanism to substitute the discretion or factual appreciation of trial judges.
He recalled that several distinguished judges, including Justice H R Khanna, Justice A M Ahmadi, and Justice Fathima Beevi, began their careers in the district judiciary.
On representation within the judicial system, Justice Bhuyan noted that Telangana has made significant strides in gender inclusion. Out of a sanctioned strength of 655 judicial officers in the Telangana Judicial Service, 478 are currently serving, of whom 283 are women, exceeding 50 per cent representation. He added that members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minority communities, and persons with disabilities are also represented in the state’s judiciary.
He observed that greater representation of women, marginalised communities, persons with disabilities, and sexual minorities would help make the judiciary more inclusive and reflective of India’s diversity. “The judiciary must represent all the colours of the rainbow and become a rainbow institution,” he said.
Justice Bhuyan also referred to the recent restoration by the Supreme Court of the requirement of a minimum three years of practice at the Bar for entry-level judicial posts. While acknowledging that the requirement ensures practical exposure, he cautioned that its impact on women aspirants, especially those from rural or small-town backgrounds facing social and financial constraints, would need to be carefully observed over time.
Concluding his address, he reiterated that the justice system must strive to bridge the gap between constitutional ideals and lived realities, ensuring that the rule of law remains paramount.
