Directing to accept the DIG report suggesting that two students of Thapar University were in fact murdered and were not victims of an accident at Rajpura in 2010, the Supreme Court has directed the Punjab Police to register a case of murder and passed strictures on it for ignoring a senior police officer’s report.
The court also directed the state to pay a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh to one of the victim’s father, and held a challan presented by the police in the case as illegal.
The police had claimed that Gagandeep Singh Bains, an MBA student of Thapar University, and his friend Gaurav Verma had died after their SUV rammed into a stationary truck on the night of September 27, 2010, near Liberty Chowk in Rajpura. Two of their friends, Zorawar Singh and Jaskaran Singh, suffered injuries.
However, Gagandeep’s father Gurbax Singh Bains, a SAS Nagar-based advocate, raised suspicion and moved the Punjab and Haryana high court. He contended that his son had been murdered by Zorawar, son of a former Patiala sub-divisional magistrate, and Jaskaran, who were his classmates.
Following his complaint, the state entrusted an inquiry to DIG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who found that Gagandeep was murdered and asked for custodial interrogation of the persons concerned. However, the state police refused to accept his report and constituted a special investigation team (SIT) which was later disbanded by the state government. In March last year, the HC directed the state to register a case of murder, but Zorawar filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, which has now held the HC’s order ‘completely justified’ and dismissed his plea.
{{/usCountry}}Following his complaint, the state entrusted an inquiry to DIG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who found that Gagandeep was murdered and asked for custodial interrogation of the persons concerned. However, the state police refused to accept his report and constituted a special investigation team (SIT) which was later disbanded by the state government. In March last year, the HC directed the state to register a case of murder, but Zorawar filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, which has now held the HC’s order ‘completely justified’ and dismissed his plea.
{{/usCountry}}Showing satisfaction, Bains said he had full faith in judiciary.