E-Paper
Jal Vayu Vihar firing: HC grants bail to former flight lieutenant
The firing was the result of an old rivalry between the two
The Punjab and Haryana high court has granted bail to Rajesh Malik, 45, a former flight lieutenant with the Indian Air Force who was arrested in June on allegations of firing at a neighbour.
The high court bench of justice Raj Mohan Singh acted on the plea of Malik, filed on August 10. Malik had allegedly injured an ex-navy officer, Narinder Verma, 46, his neighbour, at Kharar’s Jal Vayu Vihar on June 27. The firing was the result of an old rivalry between the two. A case was registered under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act at the Kharar police station.
His counsel, senior advocate Bipan Ghai had told the court that the police have not investigated the case properly as incriminating material has been ignored for the reasons best known to the police. It was also told that the accused was waylaid and, in the melee, shots got fired from the revolver. The police did not register FIR on the accused’s complaint. Seven injuries were found on him but only three were declared serious and the police managed X-Ray. When lodged in Ludhiana jail, he fell ill and was examined again and other injuries surfaced, Ghai had told the court.
The court found that the police failed to comply with the earlier orders and did not produce a medical record of the accused at the time of the arrest. The court also found that report submitted by the local deputy superintendent of police (DSP) was ‘conspicuously’ silent about the injuries found on the petitioner. “This is the state of affairs even after granting the last opportunity to the respondent state.......State counsel contended that the investigation is still pending,” the court observed on the failure of the state in producing the medical record. The court has now granted bail to Malik while posting the matter for October 29.
