The police have received rap on the knuckles from the trial court for "shoddy investigation" into the Pramod Mahajan murder case though the prosecution has managed to secure conviction for accused Pravin.

Pramod's dying declaration and testimonies of his wife Rekha and servant Mahesh Wankhede were enough to convict his brother Pravin Mahajan, but Judge S P Davare has blamed the police for certain lapses, including their failure to record Pravin's confession properly.

Pravin was awarded life imprisonment earlier this month.

The judgment, running into 390 pages, states that when Pravin went to Worli police station after shooting Pramod and confessed about the incident in April last year, he should have been taken to the magistrate, as only a confessional statement given before a magistrate is admissible in the court of law.

Had the police taken Pravin immediately to magistrate, his statement would have become a "clinching piece of evidence", the judge said.

"This clearly indicates glaring infirmities and deficiencies in the investigation."

Also, when Pravin handed over his revolver (the murder weapon), it was not handled properly, judge said.

The revolver had no fingerprints on it when examined.

"The police did not take care not to erase finger impressions of the accused," the judgment said.

Another omission by the police was not to get tapes of conversation through Pravin's cellphone from service provider Reliance Communications [Get Quote]. The police seized his cellphone, but only obtained its SIM number, and did not bother to check the call register or SMSs stored in it, it noted.