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Gurugram school murder: HC seeks Haryana’s response on prosecution sanction of four cops
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday sought response from the Haryana government on the plea of a Gurugram man, whose eight-year-old son was murdered at a prominent private school in 2017
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday sought response from the Haryana government on the plea of a Gurugram man, whose eight-year-old son was murdered at a prominent private school in 2017.
The father has challenges denial of prosecution sanction of Haryana cops by the state government. These cops had initially probed the case. A minor is accused of murdering a Class-2 student of the same school on September 8, 2017, on school campus in Gurugram.
Initially, the Haryana Police probed the case and arrested a bus driver for the murder. Later, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the state government, which claimed role of the minor, studying in the same school. Trial is underway at a CBI special court in Panchkula.
The father seeks quashing of the February 19, 2021 order of the state government, whereby the sanction of prosecution sought by CBI of four policemen associated with the probe has been declined. The plea demands that trial be stayed and the state’s decision be quashed. The cops against whom allegations are being levelled are Narinder Singh Khatana, Birem Singh, Shamsher Singh and Subhash Chand.
It has been argued that the state passed the order in a mechanical manner, without appreciating the facts and culpability of crime attributable to these persons. They ignored the clinching evidence, statements of witnesses, recovery made and other relevant material while probing the case, the plea says adding that the chargesheet filed by the CBI prime facie makes out the offence alleged to have been committed by these cops.
The plea says it is an extreme case of abuse of power which can never be said to a part of official duties required to be performed by a government servant and protected under Section 197 of the CrPC which enables the authorities to scrutinise the allegations made against a public servant and to shield him against frivolous, vexatious or false prosecution causing embarrassment and harassment.
Every official from the highest to the lowest is under the same responsibility for every act done without legal justification as any other citizen and that the act of these cops is outside the scope of their official duties, it adds.
The HC has sought response by November 8.
