Punjab and Haryana High Court declines plea for CBI probe into IPS officer’s death

More than a month after senior IPS officer Y Puran Kumar “allegedly died by suicide”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed a seeking a CBI probe into the matter after UT furnished details of the probe before a division bench.

“It does not appear that there is any unnecessary delay or laxity in investigation till date…. No case for handing over investigation to any independent agency is made out and, therefore, the present petition stands dismissed,” the bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry observed in the open court, before noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was already probing the matter.

Appearing before the bench, UT’s senior standing counsel and senior advocate Amit Jhanji submitted hat 14 persons have been arrayed as accused in the case.

He also informed the court that as many as 22 witnesses had so far been examined. “The entire CCTV footage has been procured and secured and 21 exhibits have also been collected and sent to forensics,” Jhanji added.

Taking a note of the submissions, the bench made it clear petitioner Navneet Kumar could not satisfy the court as to how the PIL was maintainable in the matter. Among other things, the petitioner had argued that one of the officials conducting investigation had also committed suicide, and the incident had shaken the conscience of the society as a whole.

“Senior officials are committing suicide and alleging victimisation and naming more than dozen of senior IPS and IAS officers. As such, it is a matter of concern. Humble submission is that some central agency can conduct a fair investigation,” he had added during the course of hearing.

Responding to the argument, Chief Justice Nagu questioned the counsel on circumstances warranting transfer of investigation to CBI. “What is so special about this case? When do we hand over investigation to CBI? Which are those decisions of the Supreme Court? There has to be some extraordinary circumstances.”

The court on UT’s behalf was, on the other hand, told that a special investigation team had been constituted under an IPS officer holding the rank of “AG Police”. There were three other IPS officers in SIT, along with three DSPs. In all, “there is a team of around 14 persons, which includes technical members carrying out the investigation on a day to day basis”, the bench was told.

The counsel had added the FIR was lodged on October 9 and the petition filed on October 13.

“To begin with, the locus of petitioner would be in question. He is a Ludhiana resident and says he was visiting Chandigarh. He read the newspaper and got disturbed. He has been able to show nothing in the entire petition, which would reflect claim of bias, or investigation is flawed, or there is any political interference or the state’s interference. These are the parameters laid down by the Supreme Court…”