High Court dismisses bail plea of cop in Sidhu Moosewala case

Saurabh Malik 

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Chandigarh, July 15

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed the bail plea of sub-inspector Pritpal Singh, a member of the Special Investigation Team probing Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala murder case, after observing that an under trial was allowed to escape from the police custody with his connivance.

Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi asserted the consideration for the grant of bail would have been different had the petitioner been an ordinary under trial accused.

But the consideration for granting bail to a law enforcer, who flouted the law for his own interest to facilitate an under trial gangster escape from police custody, was required to be addressed in a way that maintained public trust in the police as an investigative body and uphold its role as the protector of innocent people, rather than aligning with criminals.

Pritpal Singh was seeking regular bail in FIR registered on October 2, 2022, for intentional omission to apprehend someone and other offences under Sections 222, 224, 225-A, 212, 216 and 120-B of the IPC and the provisions of the Arms Act at a police station in Mansa. His counsel contended that the petitioner had undergone incarceration for more than a year.

Punjab Additional Advocate-General Gagneshwar Walia, on the other hand, contended the petitioner was a police officer entrusted custody of an under trial gangster Deepak alias Tinu for interrogation, but he facilitated his escape.

Justice Sethi asserted the petitioner’s job was to protect the law and order at the hands of miscreants. But he worked to the detriment not only of the department, but the interest of the public at large though it required to be protected by him

Describing the allegations as “very serious”, Justice Sethi observed it was a conceded fact that the petitioner, as per CCTV footage available on record, was seen taking the under trial gangster from the police station to his residential quarter in his private car without jurisdiction from where he was allowed to flee from the police custody.

“Not only this, the petitioner whose job is to ensure that no one uses unauthorized weapon or keep the same in his/her possession, was keeping illegal weapons in his own quarter which have been recovered at his instance after his arrest. This fact shows that as to what kind of person the petitioner is and what kind of links he has with the personnel, who disrupted the law and order situation,” Justice Sethi asserted.

The Bench added the State police had entrusted the petitioner with interrogating the under trial regarding the allegations against him by including him in the special investigation team.  But he eroded the trust through his conduct.