Pathanmajra’s wife moves HC, seeks protection from ‘fake encounter’ threat to husband

The wife of Sanaur MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra on Tuesday approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking protection for her family and alleging a threat of her husband’s “fake encounter” at the hands of the Punjab Police.

Taking up the petition, Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya fixed September 23 for hearing the matter.

The petitioner, Simranjit Kaur, alleged that her husband, a sitting legislator of the ruling party, was being targeted for openly stating before the media that “senior irrigation department officers misled the state government on the release of water into the river and permission to de-silt riverbeds".

He had also claimed that his repeated requests to strengthen the banks of the Ghaggar river were ignored.

“The ruling party felt disturbed by the statement of the petitioner’s husband, and in a revengeful manner, the security cover of the petitioner's family, including the husband, was immediately withdrawn, and all the SHOs and police post in-charges in his constituency were transferred within a short time,” advocates Sant Pal Singh Sidhu and Rajat Dogra contended on his behalf.

It has been further alleged that top political leaders from Punjab and Delhi were annoyed.

Acting on political vendetta, the state registered an FIR for rape and other offenses on September 1 under Sections 420, 376, and 506 of the IPC against Pathanmajra at the Civil Lines police station in Patiala.

The counsel contended that the FIR was based on “false facts” despite earlier inquiries clearing him of similar allegations.

The petitioner added that the complainant was “a habitual litigant with multiple FIRs registered against her in the past.” “She had been living in a consensual live-in relationship with the petitioner’s husband, even married him in 2021, and later started blackmailing him, uploading obscene videos and defaming him on social media,” the petition said.

It was added that an FIR was registered on the complaint of the petitioner's husband against her, and her bail was dismissed by the High Court.

The petition further averred: “Punjab Police has constituted a special investigation team headed by an officer known as an ‘encounter specialist.’ The petitioner has a credible apprehension that her husband, an elected MLA, is being targeted, hunted, and may be eliminated in a staged encounter due to political pressure.”

It was added that subsequent FIRs were also registered, including an FIR dated September 3 under the Arms Act, leading to 11 arrests of supporters and associates. The family, according to the petitioner, was under “constant police surveillance, harassed, and threatened with dire consequences.”

Terming the acts of the police as a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, the petitioner prayed for a writ to protect the life and liberty of her family, to restrain harassment, and for directions to the State to submit a detailed report of all pending cases, complaints, and inquiries against her husband.