Expedite probe against three Gurugram cops for harassing lawyer, says high court

The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Mohali police to expedite the probe into a criminal case involving three Gurugram police officers who had allegedly barged into the house of a lawyer in Mohali in August 2022

The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Mohali police to expedite the probe into a criminal case involving three Gurugram police officers who had allegedly barged into the house of a lawyer in Mohali in August 2022.

Expedite probe against three Gurugram cops for harassing lawyer, says high court

The high court bench of justice NS Shekhawat also directed the police to probe the case without being influenced by the findings of the departmental probe conducted by the Gurugram police against these officers.

Lawyer Sarvesh Gupta had approached the high court in August 2022, alleging that three police officers, including one woman officer, forcibly entered his house and threatened his wife. They also snatched her mobile phone. He said they searched his house to look for a runaway couple, whom he had represented in a case in the high court. He added that he was not present at the time of the incident.

In September 2022, the Gurugram police had to initiate a departmental probe after high court intervention and the trio — sub inspector Manjit, assistant sub-inspector Mahesh and assistant sub-inspector Nancy were suspended. In Mohali, a criminal case was registered on the complaint of the lawyer against the three police officers. Later, all of them were exonerated in the departmental proceedings by the Gurugram police.

The court gave liberty to the lawyer to file an appeal against the findings of the departmental proceedings and further directed that Mohali police would expedite the probe and conduct it without getting influenced by the departmental proceedings.

The FIR had alleged that the three police officers had conducted a search operation at the house of the lawyer in Nayagaon and offered him a bribe for disclosing personal information of his clients. The sections invoked were of criminal trespass, wrongful restrain, criminal intimidation and house trespass.