Panipat: Haryana Lokayukta orders reopening of 18-yr-old case

Mukesh Tandon

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Panipat, May 1

An 18-year-old case of blocking traffic by industrialists has been reopened after 15 years following the directions of the Haryana Lokayukta. The case was closed by the Panipat police 16 years ago after giving a clean chit to the industrialists, who reportedly blocked the GT Road in November 2005. The matter was reopened following a complaint by a labour leader, PP Kapoor, who is also an RTI activist.

The police had prepared an ‘untraced’ report in 2007, but submitted it in the court in February 2023, which was not accepted by CJM Sandeep Chauhan. The court has now ordered a reinvestigation of the case.

As per details of the case, a protest was organised by textile labourers against owners of a factory on Barsat road. The protest was headed by PP Kapoor and some others. On November 12, 2005, a scuffle took place between the owners and the labourers. Enraged, the factory owners blocked the GT Road for four hours, leading to a long traffic jam. The blockade was lifted after a case was registered against Kapoor and others under on November 12, 2005. However, a case was also registered against the owners for blocking the traffic, by the then City SHO, Lakshman Singh.

Kapoor said the police had arrested him and he had to spend 27 months in jail, but a clean chit was given to the owners and the case was closed by giving an ‘untraced’ report in 2007. Kapoor collected all records related to the case under the RTI Act and filed a complaint before the Lokayukta in 2017, seeking action against police officials for giving such a report and for not initiating action against the factory owners. Kapoor claimed that the SP, Panipat, had responded that the case was closed after an ‘untraced’ report was produced in the court. The Panipat police even failed to produce a court case closure report, police closure report and case file before the Lokayukta, following which it directed the investigation of the case by an SIT led by senior IPS officers.