Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia has filed an application before the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that the sole intention of registering the FIR against him is to take him in custody and torture him.
Majithia, who is facing a FIR registered by Punjab Police in an NDPS case, is presently on interim anticipatory bail. The interim bail has been granted to him by the High Court on a condition of cooperating in the investigation. The matter is scheduled for hearing now on January 24.
Majithia in his application submitted before HC through his counsel, Damanbir Singh Sobti and Arshdeep Singh Cheema, has sought permission to place on record an order dated December 27, 2021, issued by the then DGP Siddhartha Chattopadhyaya exercising his special powers to promote Sub-Inspector Princepreet Singh, out of turn, to the rank of Inspector.
“This particular Sub-Inspector is the son of Balraj Singh, PPS, AIG, police, who is the chairman of the SIT formed to investigate the present case by Siddhartha Chattopadhyaya. The inducement by Siddhartha Chattopadhyaya to Balraj Singh to investigate in the most unfair and partisan manner is thus writ large,” alleged the application.
“…the purpose of seeking custody of the petitioner is not for furthering any impartial investigation, but to humiliate and torture the petitioner in custody…sole intention of registering the FIR against the petitioner is to take him in custody and commit third degree torture upon him…,” reads Majithia’s application.
The application further alleges that Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on December 23, 2021, with a view to influence the process of law, very irresponsibly blamed the petitioner for the bomb blast at Ludhiana District Court as the petitioner’s bail was being heard by the Sessions Court at Mohali.
Regarding state counsel’s submission in the court that custodial interrogation of the petitioner was required on the ground that he was to be confronted with drug case accused Jagdish Bhola, Jagjit Chahal and Maninder Aulakh, Majithia mentions in his application that he (Bhola) admittedly never had any acquaintance or oral interaction with the petitioner at any time, as per his version, and thus, there is no question of the petitioner being confronted with the said person.
Majithia has submitted in the application that he appeared before the SIT to join investigation on three occasions. As per application, on January 12, he was orally questioned for about two hours in a comfortable atmosphere, though petitioner found some questions unwarranted, humiliating and offensive, however he respectfully answered all the queries.
On January 16, he (Majithia) appeared in person, but he was not subjected to any oral interrogation, and on January 17, 2022, he again appeared in person, and found that the investigating agency was unnecessarily going in circles, enlarging the scope of investigation beyond any reasonable limits and hardly addressing itself to the investigation of the allegations in the FIR.
It has been alleged in the petition that the pattern of questions clearly leads to the inference that the investigating agency is making fishing and roving inquiry with a view to find some lapses or irregularity.