New Delhi: In a setback to the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government, the Supreme Court last week refused to interfere with a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that transferred the investigation of a drug seizure case from the local police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The top court observed that the police officer who caught the haul was being “victimised” by the state.
On 18 October, a bench of justices Bela Trivedi and S.C. Sharma dismissed the Punjab government’s appeal that challenged a 4 October order of the HC.
Represented by a team of senior lawyers, led by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, the Punjab government made a concerted effort to convince the bench that the HC order was not only riddled with legal infirmities, but was pronounced on the petition of a police officer who was already under scanner.
Punjab also sought to set aside the protection from arrest given to the officer, who is facing an FIR for allegedly accepting bribes from pharmaceutical companies, for not mentioning this in the chargesheet filed in connection with the drug-seizure case.
Firm and unrelenting, the bench did not even issue a notice to the officer for a response to Punjab’s allegations. The court rejected the state’s appeal, paving the way for the CBI to start its probe into the drug haul incident as well as the corruption case against the officer.
Punjab tried to muzzle me, alleges officer
The HC’s 4 October order that was in question before the top court was delivered on a petition filed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Vaninder Kumar Mahajan who alleged the corruption case against him was part of a larger ploy by the state government to harass him.
He said this was because he had played a crucial role in exposing big pharmaceutical companies involved in what he described was the “biggest drug syndicate”.
“Possibility of people with clout and presence at different levels of administration cannot be ruled out,” the HC had noted in its five-page order.
As per his petition before the HC, which ThePrint has accessed, Mahajan was a member of the Special Task Force (STF) and had made what he described as “one of the biggest recoveries of synthetic drug” in Amritsar in February this year. Nine cartons of tramadol tablets and eight cartons of alprazolam were recovered during the seizure, apart from cash.
Further investigations led to more seizures as well as arrests and premises of drug manufacturing companies were also inspected during the police enquiry. These searches were carried out in Baddi and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh, and in Maharashtra. It was found that these units had manufactured drugs more than the authorised quantity.
Mahajan’s petition claimed that his investigation had exposed the modus operandi employed by the drug mafia which was to make transporters prepare bogus bills to ferry these medicines.
Based on extensive scientific investigation Mahajan’s team finalised the chargesheet and filed it in court within the stipulated 180 days. Twelve people were named in this final report that did not include pharmaceutical companies. However, the chargesheet mentioned that that probe against the drug manufacturers was pending.
Mahajan said he had recorded the name of these firms in the “zimnis”—the document that lists a sequence of events related to the investigation—prepared by him during the course of the probe.
Thereafter, he alleged, attempts to muzzle him began and aspersions were cast on him as well as the investigation. On 18 September, the STF registered a case against him, accusing Mahajan of taking money for not acting against one of the firms. It was lodged at the behest of another policeman who claimed money was offered to Mahajan in his presence.
Calling it a frivolous case, Mahajan approached the HC with his plea to transfer the probe of both cases—the drug seizure as well as the corruption case against him—to a neutral agency, the CBI.
‘Statewide problem’
Taking into account Mahajan’s allegations and the network of the drug syndicate exposed by his investigation, the HC observed: “Given the volume of trade, the manner in which it operates and the nature of allegations levelled, before proceeding any further in the matter, I deem it appropriate to direct the CBI to carry out a preliminary inquiry into the matter.”
Upon the CBI’s request, the court also directed Punjab to provide additional police officers and manpower to the central agency, while observing: “An investigation of such an important statewide problem cannot be stalled on the pretext of lack of resources.”
The bench went on to observe how Punjab had earned a bad reputation due to the high number of drug users in the state. Looking into the large-scale network that was unravelled with the seizure, the HC noted the “racket” involved an inter-state operation and warned action against officers who did not comply with its order to assist the CBI.
“All the authorities are directed to extend their full cooperation to the CBI for getting the truth uncovered,” the HC added.
Before the top court, the Punjab government attacked the HC’s findings. It was upset that the HC chose not to hear the state before transferring the probe to the CBI, which could be done in very rare instances.
Besides, the state claimed, the HC had overlooked “sterling evidence” against Mahajan whose displeasure with the probe could not be the sole ground to transfer it from the local police’s jurisdiction to the CBI.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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