Assault case: Police get two days to quiz former HC Bar chief
Police inform court the accused removed a hard disk containing vital CCTV footage from his office, which needs to be recovered
A day after arresting Vikas Malik, the former president of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, Chandigarh Police got his two-day remand from a local court on Saturday.
Elected as the HC Bar body chief in December 2023, Malik was arrested on the complaint of advocate Ranjit Singh, a resident of Sector 23-D, who alleged he was assaulted by a group of individuals, including Malik, in his office on the high court premises on July 1.
After police booked Malik for assault on July 1, the Bar Council of India had suspended his licence on July 10.
While pleading for his custody before the court, the prosecution stated that Malilk was arrested from Dera Bassi in Mohali and spent the night at the District Crime Cell in Sector 24.
It submitted that Malik’s office was covered with CCTV cameras on the HC premises where the assault took place. “Just after the incident, Malik removed the camera footage by taking out the hard disk. The disk has the footage of the entire incident and it is important for further investigations in the case to recover the same,” said the prosecution.
The public prosecutor further told the court that Malik was not cooperating in police investigation and not disclosing the whereabouts of the hard disk.
While the police plea sought three-day remand, the court directed that the accused be remanded to two days in custody.
What’s the complaint
According to the complainant, he, along with advocate Anjali Kukar, had visited Malik’s office, where a confrontation ensued. Malik and his associates then verbally abused and physically assaulted him, resulting in injuries to his head, face, and chest.
Subsequently, Malik was booked under Sections 191(2), 190, 126(2), 115(2), 351(2) and 351(3) of BNS at the Sector 3 police station. On Friday, police also added Sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 299 (hurting religious sentiments) of BNS in the assault case.