Sacrilege cases: CBI moves court to restrain SIT

PATIALA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has moved court seeking to restrain investigations being carried out by the Punjab Police’s special investigation team (SIT), led by Jalandhar range deputy inspector general (DIG) Ranbir Singh Khatra, in the sacrilege cases which rocked the state in 2015.
CBI’s additional superintendent of police Anil Kumar sent an email to the court of special judicial magistrate of CBI, Mohali, GS Sekhon, late on Tuesday evening seeking restraining orders on the SIT in regard to the investigations by Punjab police in sacrilege incidents, which was taken up for hearing by the court on Wednesday.

The dispute between the CBI and Punjab Police stems from the issue of jurisdiction. The previous SAD-BJP coalition government in November 2015 had handed over the investigation of three sacrilege cases — theft of Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village on June 1, 2015; putting up of handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village on September 24-25, 2015; and sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari on October 12, 2015 — to the CBI.
Police investigations illegal: CBI plea
However, the Punjab government had de-notified handing over of the investigation to CBI in the Vidhan Sabha in September 2018.
After the Amarinder government withdrew its consent for CBI investigation, the CBI moved the Punjab and Haryana high court challenging the withdrawal of consent. However, the high court and subsequently the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the decision taken by the state government.
In the meanwhile, the CBI had also moved closure report in the CBI court in Mohali in July last year seeking permission to close the cases. However, the bureau soon changed its mind and said it was continuing its investigation.
On February 20 this year, the Supreme Court dismissed the CBI’s plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana HC order supporting the Punjab government’s decision to take back all sacrilege cases from it. The CBI, going by the details in its latest application, filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the judgment in March this year and it is still pending.
In its latest application, the CBI maintained that the matter is still pending in the Supreme Court, therefore, the Punjab Police SIT should be asked to end its investigations. The CBI contended that “two simultaneous investigations cannot be carried out as per the law and the investigations being carried out by the Punjab Police were illegal and against the settled position of law and procedure and needs urgent hearing by the court.”
After taking the CBI plea on record, CBI judge GS Sekhon issued notice to the Punjab Police and fixed July 10 as the next date of hearing.