India, May 12 -- The Bombay High Court has expressed "shock" over the 2016 midnight demolition of the historic Buddha Bhushan printing press in Dadar, observing that the "evident inaction" of the Mumbai police was "contrary to the basic principles of law".

A division bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata directed the commissioner of police to file a personal affidavit within six weeks, along with an explanation on whether the intelligence department was functioning when a mob of around 400 gathered at the site at midnight, and whether the local police had received intelligence reports regarding the gathering of such a mob.

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by Prakash Ambedkar, leader of the Vanchit Bahujan A...