New Delhi: Calling the probe conducted by the Special Investigation Team of the Chandigarh Police “tainted”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Wednesday transferred the case of alleged assault of serving Army officer Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath by Punjab Police personnel to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The high court pulled up the Union Territory Police for no real progress in the investigation, despite having probed the matter for over three months, and its opinion to drop Section 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The court was hearing an urgent petition filed by Colonel Bath in continuation of his long demand for handing over the case to CBI for an impartial investigation. The officer and his son Angad were beaten up outside a famous eatery in Punjab’s Patiala on the intervening night of 13 and 14 March this year, allegedly by a group of seven-eight personnel of Punjab Police, including Ronnie Singh Salh, Harjinder Singh Dhillon, Happy Boparai, Rajvir Singh and Surjeet Singh.
Initially, Punjab Police had registered an FIR against unknown suspects based on a complaint by the Dhaba owner. However, amid furore over the assault of a serving Army officer, the police booked its officers—also for attempted murder—on 22 March.
Although Punjab Police had formed an SIT under the supervision of an officer at Additional Director General of Police level, Bath had moved the high court seeking the transfer of the case to CBI. After expressing deep concern over procedural lapses and delay in registering the FIR, the court had on 3 April ordered the Chandigarh DGP to appoint an IPS officer of Superintendent rank to probe the matter within four months.
“Weighing the facts and circumstances of the present case on the anvil of law settled, this Court finds that there are no prospects of free and fair investigation in the case by the Investigating Agency of UT, Chandigarh,” Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj observed in Wednesday’s order.
“In the facts and circumstances of the present case, the Court cannot be a moot spectator to the conduct of the Investigating Agency in conducting the investigation in a tainted manner. Hence, the investigation of the case is withdrawn from UT, Chandigarh with immediate effect. Hereinafter, the investigation of the case is handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation,” the court further said.
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Accused ‘untraceable’, ‘deletion’ of Section 109
Wednesday’s order from the high court came in after Colonel Bath’s urgent petition pointing out no progress in the investigation by Chandigarh Police SIT. He alleged that one of the accused, Ronnie Singh Salh, had not been arrested by the SIT, despite an undertaking by the UT Police to do so in the event of rejection of his anticipatory bail plea in court. The high court had rejected the petition on 23 May.
Taking cognisance of the petition and fresh arguments made by Colonel Bath’s counsels, Preetinder Singh Ahluwalia and Deepinder Singh Virk, the court had summoned IPS officer Manjeet, SP, who was leading the SIT.
Submitting the opinion of a doctor, the IO argued that injuries suffered by Colonel Bath and his son Angad Singh Bath were not dangerous, and therefore, offence under Section 109 of BNS was not maintainable. Subsequently, he submitted, custody of the accused was not mandatory after dropping the attempt-to-murder charge.
The court, however, took strong objection to these arguments, saying that the probe did not move at right pace, and the investigating officer decided to drop the attempt-to-murder charge even before the probe had concluded.
“So far progress in the investigation is concerned, except saying that the investigation is in progress, there is no material to convince the Court that the investigation is being carried out in a free and fair manner. Time limit of four months granted by this Court is almost over. Without concluding the investigation, the Investigating Agency has already made up its mind to delete the offence under Section 109 BNS (Section 307 IPC), which substantiate the apprehension of the petitioner that the Investigating Agency is proceeding in a tainted manner to give benefit to the accused,” Justice Bhardwaj remarked in the order Wednesday.
The court also reiterated the reason for transferring the case out of Punjab to ensure a free and fair probe, which, it said, was not done by Chandigarh Police either.
“From the overwhelming circumstances of the case, the Court is convinced that the Investigating Agency is not only trying to create loopholes in the investigation, but trying to make craters in the investigation so as to ensure that once the chargesheet is filed before the Court, the case of the prosecution should hardly be able to crawl in the Court,” the order read.
CBI’s counsel present in the court accepted the notice on the agency’s behalf, setting the stage for it to register a case.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Thank you to the Print for reporting this. I commend the honourable high court for this step and hope that the CBI can help get justice for Col. Bath. The accused, if found guilty, should receive the strictest punishment possible under law. Otherwise, it will remain a case of business as usual where the police in India are almost never held accountable for their actions.