Obligation-bound to behave on instructions in drug case, Punjab tells HC
Chandigarh, February 15
Describing as misconceived the allegations of inaction on stories submitted by the Particular Investigation Group (SIT) within the Punjab drug case, the federal government right this moment mentioned the identical had been handed over to the Punjab and Haryana Excessive Courtroom and never the state.
Because the case got here up for resumed listening to, the counsel positioned earlier than the Bench an affidavit stating, amongst different issues, that the state was duty-bound to behave in accordance with “the instructions which may be handed by this court docket in reference to the stories submitted by the SIT”.
The affidavit by Assistant Inspector-Common of Police, Litigation, Bureau of Investigation, Punjab, Sarabjit Singh, added that the Excessive Courtroom, in November 2017, directed the pinnacle of the Particular Activity Power, Harpreet Singh Sidhu, to research the function of Inspector Inderjit Singh after which Senior Superintendent of Police, Moga, Raj Jit Singh Hundal relating to drug trafficking within the state and submit a standing report.
An utility was then moved by Hundal stating that he was not more likely to get a good and neutral investigation by the hands of Sidhu on account of his alleged private bias in opposition to him.
With out going into the veracity of the allegations, the Excessive Courtroom modified its earlier order to the extent that the allegations of complicity and shut affiliation of Hundal with Inderjit Singh emanating out of an FIR pertaining to drug trafficking could be investigated by a three-member particular investigation group, comprising DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya and IPS officers Prabodh Kumar and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh.
“It might be seen that the SIT submitted the stories on to the court docket in pursuance of the developments on numerous dates as mirrored within the orders dated February 1, 2018, March 15, 2018, and Might 23, 2018, handed by the court docket. Ever since, the mentioned stories have been mendacity in sealed covers within the custody of this court docket,” it was added.
The developments earlier than the Bench of Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan passed off a decade after the Excessive Courtroom took suo motu cognizance of the drug menace in Punjab.
The state was represented by Extra Advocate-Common Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, whereas intervener Attorneys for Human Rights Worldwide was represented by advocate Navkiran Singh.
He was searching for instructions for opening the stories filed by the SIT. The Centre was represented within the matter by its senior counsel Arun Gosain.