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Cases against MPs/ MLAs: High court comes down heavily on Haryana police
Punjab and Haryana High Court came down heavily on Haryana Police and warned that if no further progress is reported in FIRs registered against MPs and MLAs, it would be forced to fix responsibility of officers concerned
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Haryana Police and warned that if no further progress is reported in FIRs registered against MPs and MLAs, it would be forced to fix the responsibility of the officers concerned.
The bench of justice AG Masih and justice Lalit Batra made these observations while hearing a 2021 suo motu plea in which the court is monitoring a probe into FIRs registered against MPs and MLAs in two states and Chandigarh.
Earlier, it had come before the court that some FIRs are pending since 2005. “The shelter, which is being sought to be taken for not proceeding with the investigation, is pendency of the writ petitions,” the court remarked, adding that when questioned whether there is any stay on probe or presentation of the challan, the answer is in the negative.
“If that be so, it appears that the investigating agency of the state of Haryana is taking shelter just to delay the investigation and not proceeding with it. These excuses, as have been pointed out, are unacceptable and as there is no bar to investigate the matter and present the report.. (challan)”, the court further recorded, adding that cases have also come to the fore where the voice samples are not either being taken or not given by the accused. The court has now given Haryana police four weeks to address this aspect. “It is made clear that in case there is no further progress in the investigation of the cases, the court would be forced to take a serious view of the same and pass appropriate orders, even fixing the responsibility of the officers concerned,” the bench said fixing the matter for further hearing on September 7. As per the latest affidavit by the state, a total of 21 cases are pending probe in Haryana.
Probe underway in 48 FIRs in Punjab, court told
In the case of Punjab, the court was told that 48 FIRs are such where the investigation is underway. As per the state, most of the cases, which are under investigation, are of the year 2022. However, the police admitted that there is an aberration as far as the old cases are concerned. The state’s counsel sought time to file a detailed status report as to the stage of the investigation and the period which is likely to be taken for presenting the challan in the court. The court also granted time to the state police to file by the next date of hearing, the details about the stage of the trial in the cases where challans have been presented. During the hearing, it had come to light that the affidavit filed does not mention whether it is for the prosecution or the defence evidence. Also, it did not mention how many witnesses have been examined that the prosecution intends to examine.
As for the Chandigarh police, it informed the court that in a complaint case, permission from the district magistrate is awaited. The court asked the magistrate to take a decision within a period of four weeks. As of an FIR against some Congress leaders registered on June 9, the court was told that the CCTV footage of the residence of the Punjab chief minister is awaited. The court ordered that the competent authority in this respect would take a call on providing CCTV footage and convey the decision to the police within four weeks. The FIR was in respect of a protest.
The court also noted that in some of the matters, the presence of the accused is being sought for almost one year but the police have not approached the court for taking coercive steps for ensuring the presence of the accused. The court has now sought the status of each of the cases, including the witnesses examined and those remaining.
