HC declines interim relief to DIG in corruption case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today declined interim relief to DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar in the corruption case registered by the CBI, holding that the relief sought was virtually identical to the final adjudication of the matter. Bhullar had sought immediate release from custody, asserting that any further “detention and incarceration would be an anathema to law and gravely detrimental to the cause of justice”.

The Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry observed that arguments on the main matter had already commenced, leaving no occasion to grant interim relief at this stage. The Bench observed that the nature of interim protection prayed for was “akin to the final relief”, and in such circumstances, the court was not inclined to exercise discretion at the current stage.

At the onset, the Bench questioned whose employee an IPS officer was and called for the All-India Service Act and the relevant rules. The direction came in response to Bhullar’s earlier contention that the CBI could proceed only against central government employees in Chandigarh. “The state government has the power to initiate disciplinary action, but ultimately who is the final authority,” the Bench questioned during the course of hearing.

Bhullar’s counsel, senior advocate Randeep Singh Rai, argued that the petitioner was a Punjab cadre IPS officer. As such, the authority concerned was Punjab. “In a case of an IAS officer in the state of Punjab, they have sent the file to the state of Punjab for sanction. You are required to take sanction from the authority under whose service the public servant is.” The case will now come up for resumed hearing during the post-lunch session.

The pivotal jurisdictional question—whether the CBI, constituted under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, can investigate anyone other than Central government employees without a specific order — cropped up before the High Court today.