Bishnoi interview: HC orders accountability of higher-ups

Nearly nine months after “known criminal” Lawrence Bishnoi’s in-custody interview “glorifying crime and criminals” was described as a matter of grave concern, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday made it clear that action should extend to higher-ranking officers with supervisory authority

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“The interview had been conducted at the premises of the CIA Staff, Kharar, which falls in the jurisdiction of police district SAS Nagar, Mohali. We hope and trust that action would not be confined to the lower level officials, but extend to higher officers who had supervisory jurisdiction over the CIA Staff, Kharar, including the then SSP, who was the head of the district police when the interview was conducted,” the Bench of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Lapita Banerji asserted.

Taking up the matter, the Bench asserted the SIT looking into the matter in its status report had stated that the first interview was conducted in September 2022 and the interviewee was on the premises of the Kharar CIA Staff.

The Bench also took note of Punjab Advocate-General Gurminder Singh’s submission that disciplinary action would be initiated against the officers “who were in charge of the CIA Staff as well as the supervisory officers in accordance with law”.

Before parting with the case, the Bench also recorded submissions by the Principal Secretary, Home Affairs and Justice, and the State Director-General of Police and that they were duty-bound to take action against the delinquent officers.

Fixing the case for September last week, the Bench directed ADGP, Prisons, to file an affidavit on the progress regarding the installation of jammers, AI-based CCTV cameras, body-worn cameras and other measures to augment jail security.