New Delhi: The Chandigarh Administration failed to produce suspended Punjab Police DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar before a special court in the city Wednesday due to what they said was a shortage of vehicles and manpower amid the President’s visit to northern Indian states.
Lodged at Chandigarh’s Burail jail after his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last year, Bhullar was set to be produced before a special court on the production warrant issued by Special PMLA Judge Bhawana Jain. The notice was issued to the Burail jail superintendent regarding the application moved by the Enforcement Directorate seeking his production before the court for custody.
President of India, Draupadi Murmu, embarked on her two-day tour to Himachal Pradesh via Chandigarh starting Tuesday. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann received her at Chandigarh Airport Tuesday, after which she travelled to Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh to preside over the first convocation of AIIMS in the city.
“Notice of the application issued to accused H. S. Bhullar through Superintendent, Model Jail, Burail, Chandigarh received back duly served and learned counsel(s) put in their appearance on his behalf before the court today. However, the accused could not be physically produced before the court today in pursuance of his production warrant (issued for today) due to shortage of vehicle and manpower on account of VVIP visit of the Hon’ble President of India,” Special Judge Bhawana Jain noted in Wednesday’s judicial proceedings.
The development comes days after the same court pulled up Chandigarh Police for assigning the duty of producing Bhullar from jail during trial proceedings in the CBI case to a police personnel who himself was facing trial before the same court in a similar corruption case and charged by the same agency.
“Such arrangements of guard provided by the quarter concerned to produce the accused of a high profile case before this court is not acceptable. As such, a copy of this order under the signature of Reader to this court be sent to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh, in a sealed envelope with a direction to look into the matter, so that the staff of the office may remain vigilant in deputing the appropriate guard to produce the accused persons in custody before the court in future,” Special Judge Jain observed in the proceedings on 1 October.
The latest production warrant was issued after the ED had moved an application on 29 September seeking the court’s nod to have Bhullar physically produced before it before moving a remand application for his arrest in a money-laundering probe related to a corruption case. Arrested while serving as Ropar range DIG, Bhullar has been in custody since his arrest.
Earlier, the agency had arrested national-level Hockey player Kirshanu Sharda, who was suspected of being a middleman between Bhullar and a Fatehgarh Sahib-based complainant in the case, for the exchange of a bribe amount to drop criminal proceedings against him.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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