E-Paper
HC nod to second post-mortem of gangster Bhullar at PGIMER
Bhullar’s father had petitioned that the autopsy be conducted again, to the know the exact details and nature of the injuries caused to him. The high court had dismissed the plea, against which he had moved the apex court; now the HC has granted permission
Chandigarh The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday roped in the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) for the second autopsy of slain gangster Jaipal Singh Bhullar, killed in an encounter in Kolkata on June 9. The first post-mortem was conducted in Kolkata.
On Friday, the Supreme Court had remanded back a plea from his father, Bhupinder Singh, a retired police inspector, for conducting the second autopsy of Bhullar. The father had sought that Bhullar’s autopsy be conducted again, to the know the exact details and nature of the injuries caused to him. The high court had dismissed the plea, against which he had moved the apex court.
The father claims that Bhullar was killed in a fake encounter. According to him, this was substantiated from the injuries that were noticed on his son’s body.
During the hearing on Monday, the bench of justice Avneesh Jhingan asked the petitioner’s counsel whether the injuries visible on the body find mention in the post-mortem report conduced in Kolkata. The lawyer, however, said that the report was not with him and the father was informed by the doctors that the cause of death was fire-arm injury.
The Punjab government, on the other hand, said that the state police was not involved in any alleged encounter and all the action was of the West Bengal authorities.
The court noted that the previous post-mortem report was not on record and that there was no substantial ground to order a second autopsy; it was also observed that the West Bengal police have not been made party to the plea.
The court stated that it was ignoring the technicalities in view of the fact that body had been lying at the petitioner’s place for nine days and directed the PGIMER to constitute a board and conduct a second post-mortem expeditiously.
As the PGIMER counsel said that it would be carried on Tuesday morning, the court disposed of the matter and directed that the post-mortem report be given to Punjab police as well as the petitioner.
