Khanna bypoll row: HC asks SSP to file affidavit

Just about four months after a petition was filed alleging that the Aam Aadmi Party government illegally stopped the counting process of a byelection to the Khanna Municipal Council by destroying the EVM, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Senior Superintendent of Police concerned to file an affidavit.

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The officer has been directed to detail the progress made in the investigation, identify the officials deployed on polling duty at the time of the incident and specify whether their statements had been recorded as a part of the probe.

The direction by Justice Harpreet Singh Brar came on a petition filed against the Central Bureau of Investigation and other respondents by Satnam Singh. Among other things, the petitioner had alleged that the EVM was destroyed when the party’s own candidate lost previous round of counting.

As the matter came up for resumed hearing, a short reply by Deputy Superintendent of Police Karamvir Singh was placed before the Bench. Taking the same on record, the court observed that the affidavit was “sketchy” and it did not controvert the specific averments made in the petition.

Referring to one of the paragraphs, Justice Brar observed that it was indicated that the investigation was set into motion after the FIR registration. It was during the probe that it was found that the voting machine and CCTV camera had been damaged and removed. “In view of the same, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Khanna, is directed to file his affidavit,” Justice Brar observed. The case will now be heard on July 18.