Colonel Bath files plea in high court, seeks transfer of assault case probe to CBI
The petition seeks a stay in the probe by the Punjab Police and examining the role of senior police officers in the delay in the registration of FIR and will be taken up by the bench of justice Sandeep Moudgil on Tuesday.
The Punjab and Haryana high court would take up a plea by Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath seeking transfer of probe in the FIR registered by Patiala police in the assault case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The petition seeks a stay in the probe by the Punjab Police and examining the role of senior police officers in the delay in the registration of FIR and will be taken up by the bench of justice Sandeep Moudgil on Tuesday.
Col Bath and his son were allegedly assaulted by Punjab Police cops on the intervening night of March 13 and 14, when they were at a roadside eatery near Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala.
The family claimed that when the two were standing outside their car and having food, some police officers in civilian clothes approached and asked the colonel to move his vehicle so they could park theirs. When the colonel objected to their rude tone, one of the officers punched him, and soon all the police personnel began thrashing him and his son. The colonel’s arm was broken, and his son suffered a long cut on his head.
The plea alleges his wife was pressured by the policemen to strike a compromise and further claimed that some cops admitted in a video call to his wife that they were under the influence of alcohol/intoxicated at the time.
The plea claims that for eight days FIR was not registered by the police even when the petitioner and his family were the first to report the incident, the FIR registered on March 14 was on the statement of the Dhaba owner. The March 22 FIR, with him as complainant, was registered only after widespread public outcry and protests, it says.
“Dilatory tactics are being adopted by the Punjab Police to proceed further with the investigation which is evident from the fact that on reporting the incident, instead of registering FIR only an order of suspension of the accused was passed by the police, no attempt was made to apprehend them but instead a mere order of inquiry of the incident by an executive magistrate was passed,” it says.
The petitioner is deputed at a sensitive posting, suffered not only personal indignity but also a breach of institutional integrity and national security as his official army I-card and mobile phone, possibly containing sensitive information were forcibly taken by the accused posing a serious risk that merits a central level investigation, it further added. Underlining that the case has a wide “ranging ramification” hence, CBI be entrusted with the probe.
The plea also demands that directions be issued to preserve relevant CCTV footage and tower locations of persons concerned in the case and that steps be taken for the protection of life and liberty of the petitioner, his family and eyewitnesses.
