V.M. Kanade, J.

1. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Respondents waive service. By consent of parties, Writ Petition is taken up for final hearing.

2. By this Petition which is filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Petitioners are seeking appropriate writ, order and direction for quashing the FIR which is registered vide C.R. No.SPL LAC 28/2011 dated 10/08/2011 against the Petitioners and others at the Andheri Police Station for the offence punishable under sections 4 and 5 of the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887 (Hereinafter referred to as “Gambling Act”) and they are also seeking appropriate writ, order and direction, directing G.B.C.B. C.I.D to register an FIR against Respondent Nos. 5 to 8 for falsely implicating the Petitioners in criminal case. They are also seeking further writ, order and direction to award compensation of Rs 1,00,000/- each to the Petitioners to be paid by Respondent No.1 after recovering the said amount from salaries of Respondent Nos. 5 to 8. They are also seeking direction, directing Respondent No.2 to take action against Respondent Nos. 5 to 8 for victimizing innocent citizens by holding a departmental inquiry against them.

3. Brief facts giving rise to the present Petition are stated hereinbelow:-

4. There is a Gymkhana situated at Andheri, Mumbai and it is known as Andheri Gymkhana which is an Association registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act and also under the Societies Registration Act. It is in existence since more than 25 years and the Petitioners are members of the said Association. The Petitioners are all senior citizens. Petitioner No.1 is 78 years of age, Petitioner No.2 is 73 years of age, Petitioner No.3 is 75 years of age, Petitioner No.4 is 63 years of age, Petitioner No.5 is 65 years of age, Petitioner No.6 & 7 are 72 years of age etc. The average age of all these Petitioners is about 60 to 65 years. Two to three Petitioners are between the age group of 40 years to 50 years. There is a Card Room in the said Gymkhana and the Rules prescribe that the said Card Room is to be used only for playing Bridge and Rummy. The Gymkhana files its balance sheet and audited accounts with the Office of the Charity Commissioner, Mumbai. Most of the Petitioners who have already retired use the premises of the Gymkhana for the purpose of playing Bridge and Rummy, both of which are games of skill.

5. According to Petitioners, they visited Gymkhana on 10th August, 2011 for the purpose of playing Bridge and Rummy and, at about 8.50 p.m., a Police Team from Andheri Police Station comprising of Respondent Nos. 5, 6 and 8 and other male policemen entered the Card Room and started browbeating the Petitioners who were present there and accused them of gambling and asked them to remove all the articles from their pockets. According to Petitioners, they were playing Rummy and Bridge sometimes with stakes in the form of “counters” for pure amusement for last number of years. Out of the Petitioners, most of them were senior citizens and some of them were house wives. According to Petitioners, they were not allowed to make any phone calls and they were not permitted to call their family members. They were also not permitted to take their medicines for diabetes and blood pressure etc. or even to use toilet facilities.

6. Respondents claimed that they received information that illegal gambling was going on in the Card Room and the Respondents, after they raided the said Card Room, called the Secretary of the Gymkhana and and asked him whether they had a gambling license and the Secretary informed them that there was no question of obtaining any gambling license since members were playing games of skill. This explanation was not accepted by the police and they proceeded to seize the counters, playing cards and the cash which was found in the pockets of the members. The Petitioners, thereafter, were taken d