The Punjab police recently carried out a successful operation where a 7-year-old kidnapped boy was rescued within 24 hours and the main accused was killed in a controversial “encounter”. On 13 March, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh and promotions for the team.
High on success, and allegedly liquor, the police team went to have a midnight dinner at Harbans Dhaba near Rajendra Hospital, Patiala. Four inspectors from the team got involved in an altercation with a father and son duo over a parking place. In the aftermath, the father and son were hospitalised for multiple injuries, including a fractured arm and a broken nose.
This conduct is par for the course for India’s highly politicised and still culturally colonial police and the incident would have gone unnoticed and even unreported in the media. What broke the pattern was that among the victims were a serving Colonel, Pushpinder Singh Bath, and his son—and that his wife, Mrs Jaswinder Kaur Bath, collected irrefutable evidence, insisting that the case be registered.
After an eight-day struggle, which included intervention by the Governor of Punjab and Army chain of command, extensive media coverage, social media uproar, and protests by ex–servicemen, an FIR based on the victim’s statement was registered. However, given past police conduct in protecting ‘their own’, and India’s laborious judicial process that relies on investigation by the same police, there is a question mark on the perpetrators ever being punished.
The Armed Forces and the police, including CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces), are the executors of the government’s monopoly over the legitimate use of violence. The ever-increasing cases of an arrogant police’s high-handedness against military personnel are impacting the morale of the Armed Forces and testing the patience of soldiers. It is only a matter of time before the situation spirals out of control and soldiers take the law into their own hands, which would be a sad day for the nation. The police’s recent brutalisation of the 52–year–old Colonel, who has served in the Army for 30 years, is no ordinary matter. It is time for introspection.
Sequence of events
The following sequence of events is based on my conversation with Colonel Bath and is also corroborated by media reports.
Along with his son Angad, Colonel Bath came to Patiala on leave from his duty station, Delhi, at 12:15 am on 14 March. He went to have a snack at Harbans Dhaba. The duo arrived at the dhaba at 12:20 am and squeezed their car in the already full parking space outside. They ordered a plate of Maggi noodles and since the dhaba was jam–packed, placed their plate on the dickey of the car. A friend of Angad, who was passing by, also joined them.
At approximately 12:30 am, a police Scorpio vehicle with flashing beacon lights, followed by another Scorpio and a Fortuner, came in from the wrong side of the road. Approximately 10 policemen, some armed with pistols in civilian clothes and two armed in uniform, emerged from the vehicles. One of them abused Colonel Bath in Punjabi and asked him to either move his car and allow theirs to be parked in its place or face consequences. Colonel Bath told the cops that he was an Army officer and there was no need for abuses, asking his son to move their car.
Taking umbrage at the Colonel’s protest, one of the policemen, later identified as Inspector Ronnie Singh, SHO Samana, punched him in the face. Colonel Bath blacked out and fell. His spectacles broke, and part of the frame got embedded in his face. Meanwhile, three to four policemen continued to rain blows on him. Seeing his father under assault, Angad left the car and pushed aside the policemen, covering Colonel Bath to protect him. He was pulled away by the policemen and was assaulted with fists and batons produced from the police vehicles. One of the policemen allegedly threatened Angad that he was just back after an encounter and another one may well take place.
Somehow, Angad freed himself and put his dazed father in their car. Colonel Bath attempted to show his service identity card to the policemen, who responded by snatching it away, along with his phone. They pulled Colonel Bath and his son out of the car and dragged them on the road, further beating them with fists and batons. Bystanders and dhaba guests who tried to intervene were also thrashed. This brutal assault lasted for about 20 to 25 minutes before the policemen went away.
As soon as she heard about the incident from Angad’s friend, Mrs Bath informed the police control room at 12:42 am. The assault was ongoing at this time.
Angad took Colonel Bath home, but considering their injuries, both were admitted to Rajendra Hospital at about 1:10 am. From the get-go, it was treated as a medico–legal case, which ruled out the consumption of alcohol.
After the victims stabilised, knowing the modus operandi of the police, Mrs Bath and her brother–in–law, Gurtej Singh Dhillon, went back to Harbans Dhaba at 2:25 am. The dhaba owner played the CCTV recording and identified the four inspectors. Mrs Bath recorded the entire incident on her phone from the dhaba’s monitor screen.
Dhillon rang up ASI Suresh, SHO Model Town, who arrived on the scene and took possession of the original digital video recording (DVR) from the dhaba owner and also questioned him. SSP Patiala Nanak Singh did not respond to repeated calls made to him. At 02:48 am, DIG Mandeep Singh Sidhu was contacted and promised necessary action. He nominated DSP Satnam Singh as the investigating officer.
Also read: Coup rumours are circulating in Dhaka. Here’s why the army isn’t keen on it
Sordid cover-up by police
On the morning of 14 March, Dhillon spoke to Arpit Shukla, ADGP (law and order), Punjab, who promised necessary action. Apparently on his directions, within minutes, Nanak Singh finally spoke to Dhillon at 07:22 am, apologising profusely for the incident and promising follow-up action. However, he also pitched in for an apology by the culprits and an amicable settlement.
Soon after the call, a medical examination of two policeman allegedly injured in the affray was organised at a private hospital to make the case two–sided. A police team recorded Colonel Bath’s statement at 10:30 am in the hospital and collected all evidence and hospital documents.
No FIR was registered.
SSP Nanak Singh met Mrs Bath at 12:00 pm in his camp office. Once again, he suggested a compromise. However, when Mrs Bath insisted on getting a copy of the FIR, she was made to shuttle between Model Town and Civil Lines police stations. Despite a 6-hour wait, no FIR was recorded.
On 15 March, at 10:30 am, she was once again called to Model Town police station but not given a copy of the FIR. The conversation remained focused on striking a compromise. The four accused inspectors were called to render an apology. When Mrs Bath didn’t entertain this, she got a veiled threat instead, of future problems for the family in Patiala.
Mrs Bath then informed the Army authorities, who rang up SSP Nanak Singh. After 36 hours of struggle, an FIR was finally registered at 1:30 pm against unknown persons at the behest of the dhaba owner. It was also recorded that Colonel Bath, Angad, and Angad’s friend were drinking liquor, had parked their car wrongly so that it blocked the road, and initiated a minor scuffle with unidentified persons.
It was only after extensive media coverage, a dharna by ex-servicemen, and the intervention of the governor, to whom Colonel Bath and his wife appealed in person, that a proper FIR on behalf of the victims was registered on 22 March—eight days after the incident. The accused personnel were finally suspended and sent out of Patiala city but within the Patiala Police Range. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) under an ADGP and also a magisterial inquiry was also ordered.
This is the Punjab police’s standard escalatory management of cases involving their own. It involves a delay to destroy evidence, influence witnesses, put out a counter-narrative to make the victims the accused entity in the FIR, and ordering an SIT and a magisterial enquiry to ward off media, public, or government pressure. The investigators’ conflict of interest, due to close relationships with the accused and that of the officers shielding them, is disregarded. The end result is that the case drags on for years in courts and results in acquittal due to lack of evidence.
Also read: Indian taxpayers are paying for a clownish police investigation into Kunal Kamra
Army hierarchy misled by police
Sadly, the Armed Forces have little or no understanding of the police psychology and functioning when its ‘own’ are the accused. There have been no notable cases since Independence where the police have acted impartially against its own personnel. Even cases investigated by the CBI drag on for years, tiring out the victims.
In the present case, the Army lauded the FIR against “unknown persons”, which painted Colonel Bath as a drunk who got into a scuffle—despite the Colonel’s account being well known to the authorities. The Army failed to exert the necessary pressure on the Punjab government and police to ensure proper registration of the FIR. The correct FIR was registered entirely due to the efforts of Colonel Bath and his wife, and with the intervention of the governor.
There is no record of the military hierarchy visiting or meeting Colonel Bath. If it was done in private, it served no purpose. A high-profile, publicised visit would have made a big difference. Even now, the military hierarchy is sitting in its cocoon of correctness, ignorant of the reality. It is ironic that the police is going out of the way to protect the accused policemen, and the Army has left Colonel Bath alone to fight his own battle. The adverse impact on the morale of the rank and file is not hard to imagine.
It is time for the military hierarchy to introspect and lay down the mechanism to protect its own before the rank and file rise up to protect themselves. Establish a system where any soldier facing police high–handedness anywhere can contact the Military Police or a Quick Reaction Team. It is a shame that Colonel Bath was assaulted within 500 metres of the Patiala Military Station. The defence minister needs to take up a case with the Ministry of Home Affairs to lay down a comprehensive policy on the treatment of military personnel by the police.
Also read: Russia-Ukraine war shows why Indian Army must integrate drones into its combined arms
What now?
Colonel Bath had filed a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court praying for an impartial CBI inquiry. In a major development today, the High Court has directed the Chandigarh (UT) police to investigate the case by forming a new SIT within three days and complete the probe within four months. No police officer from Punjab police on deputation with Chandigarh police will be part of the SIT. In my view, as and when the case comes up for prosecution, the Ministry of Defence must become a party to the case through the Attorney General of India.
The government and the Armed Forces must treat Colonel Bath’s brutalisation as a benchmark case that must not only lay down the law for the treatment of Armed Forces personnel but also initiate police reforms, which are languishing 19 years after the Supreme Court judgment of 2006. Colonel Bath has met the governor, defence minister, Punjab chief minister, and possibly the Chief of Army Staff and the Army Commander. It would be a national shame if he does not get justice.
Lt Gen H S Panag PVSM, AVSM (R) served in the Indian Army for 40 years. He was GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command. Post retirement, he was Member of Armed Forces Tribunal. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
A very detailed and informative article. Kudos to Mrs. Bath on her sharp mind and steely determination. Those police officers responsible for this attack on Col. Bath and Angad should be dismissed and perhaps even serve some time in jail for their actions.