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Panel report not submitted: HC summons ADGP (prisons) over delay in probing Lawrence Bishnoi interviews
It was on November 9, acting on a suo motu plea, the high court had sought a report on delay in probe. “It is a matter of grave concern that a suspect in police custody has been allowed to conduct an interview at length. The officers who permitted or facilitated the interview need to be identified and taken to task at the earliest. The committee had been constituted (to probe the episode) in March 2023 and eight months have elapsed but not much headway has been made,” the bench had observed seeking an affidavit from the ADGP (prisons).
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday summoned the additional director general of police (prisons) over the delay in completion of a probe into two interviews given by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi on two occasions, while in custody.
“A committee had been constituted on March 29 this year to probe the recording and telecast of the interview by a suspect in judicial/police custody. He was stated to be in judicial custody when the interview was telecast. Even after eight months, the report has not been submitted by the committee. We are not satisfied with the progress in the enquiry and the explanation being offered for the delay,” the bench of justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and justice Kirti Singh observed summoning the officer.
It was on November 9, acting on a suo motu plea, the high court had sought a report on delay in probe. “It is a matter of grave concern that a suspect in police custody has been allowed to conduct an interview at length. The officers who permitted or facilitated the interview need to be identified and taken to task at the earliest. The committee had been constituted (to probe the episode) in March 2023 and eight months have elapsed but not much headway has been made,” the bench had observed seeking an affidavit from the ADGP (prisons).
During the hearing on Tuesday, the state’s counsel, while referring to the affidavit of the ADGP (prisons), had stated that efforts are on to stop the smuggling of mobile phones into the jails as well as their usage by the inmates. The committee, which had been constituted to enquire into the incident of the recording and telecast of the interviews in question, would require more time to submit its report as a large volume of records need to be scanned.
On the other hand, referring to the same affidavit, amicus curiae, Tanu Bedi had informed the court that the committee had been able to pinpoint that the second interview could have been recorded between February 26 to March 17, 2023 and therefore, it would not be difficult for the committee to establish the date, time and place where it was recorded. In the era of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT, if the state is still unable to establish the time and date, it shows that the state is not well equipped, she had asserted.
Taking note of her submissions, the court summoned the officer and asked him to explain why the report had not been submitted till date. The court also asked to apprise about the measures taken by the jail authorities to stop the usage of mobile phones by inmates and the calls for extortion, by December 14.
The gangster was interviewed by a news channel and it was telecast on March 14 and March 17. The interviews took place even as the gangster had been behind the bars for years together. A two-member committee comprising of a special DGP (STF) and an additional director general of police (prisons) was constituted in March 2023 by the government. But the probe report is still awaited. Meanwhile, the court also issued a notice on an application moved by a Punjab resident who had in March filed a plea seeking probe into the episode. The applicant had alleged that after his PIL was disposed of in March, he had approached the committee with his representation, but the committee “paid no heed to his grievance”.
