The Punjab and Haryana high court has said that the individual report filed by former director general of police (DGP) Siddharth Chattopadhyaya on the alleged role of cops with drug traffickers was beyond the mandate given to the special investigation team (SIT) led by him.
The high court bench of justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan on Friday passed an order in the context of mandate to the three-member SIT led by Punjab IPS officer Siddhartha Chattopadhyaya to investigate the drug menace in the context of allegation of police collusion. Four reports, in a sealed cover, were filed in the high court. While three were signed by all three members, fourth bore only Chattopadhyaya’s signatures.
The high court has now ruled that in the three-member panel, it was not within the domain of a single member to digress from his duties. The court has ordered that the report be kept in a sealed cover with the high court. The report in question had references to then DGP Suresh Arora and another senior Punjab IPS officer Dinkar Gupta, now director, National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The Chattopadhyaya-led SIT, in 2017-18, was mandated by the high court to probe role of two cops --- then SSP Raj Jit Singh and his associate and inspector Inderjit Singh --- facing allegations of nexus with drugs traffickers. The three reports were opened in pursuant to an application by a lawyer in 2022 demanding that reports be unsealed. While the issue of opening of individual report by Chattopadhyaya was being debated, former DGP Suresh Arora filed an intervention application for “assisting the court” in this matter in April. Subsequently, the court also sought affidavit from Dinkar Gupta.
{{/usCountry}}The Chattopadhyaya-led SIT, in 2017-18, was mandated by the high court to probe role of two cops --- then SSP Raj Jit Singh and his associate and inspector Inderjit Singh --- facing allegations of nexus with drugs traffickers. The three reports were opened in pursuant to an application by a lawyer in 2022 demanding that reports be unsealed. While the issue of opening of individual report by Chattopadhyaya was being debated, former DGP Suresh Arora filed an intervention application for “assisting the court” in this matter in April. Subsequently, the court also sought affidavit from Dinkar Gupta.
{{/usCountry}}The court also examined content of the report individually submitted by Chattopadhyaya and observed that the alleged “clandestine deal” about a property bought by Gupta’s relative in Chandigarh mentioned in the report in question was examined by the state agencies who found the allegation to be baseless. The court said the report claims inaction against tainted cop Inderjit Singh when Arora was the DGP. However, Arora has denied this charge all along.
The court took note of submissions that the report in question came around the time when the race was on for the post of DGP, falling vacant in September 2018, on Arora’s retirement. Subsequently, there was a “bitter service litigation” between Chattopadhyaya and Gupta, which went up to the apex court and Arora was also arrayed as a party.
The court decided not to approve the individual report stating that these factors would go on to further cement the opinion that reliance upon the individual report submitted by Chattopadhyaya was not warranted.