Secure Punjab, Central agency records on PM’s visit: SC to HC

After hearing a plea by Delhi-based Lawyers Voice, the bench of Chief Justice of India N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said: “Taking into consideration the arguments  advanced by the parties with respect to the issues relating to the security of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and other related issues raised by them, we deem it appropriate for the time being to direct the Registrar General, Punjab and Haryana High Court to secure and preserve the records relating to the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s scheduled tour of Punjab on 05th January 2022.”

The bench directed the “the Director General of Police, Union Territory of Chandigarh and an officer of the National Investigation Agency, not below the rank of Inspector General, to be nominated by the Director General, National Investigation Agency to assist the Registrar General, Punjab and Haryana High Court to forthwith secure and seize the records from the State police as well as Central agencies”.

It asked the “State Government of Punjab, including the police authorities, the Special Protection Group and any other Central/State agencies to cooperate and to provide necessary assistance in securing and seizing the records”.

The High Court Registrar General, it said, should keep the records in safe custody for the time being.

With directions already issued for seizing the records, the court, on being told that it will not be possible for the committees appointed by the Centre and Punjab to proceed with their respective inquiries without the records, instructed them verbally to put their proceedings on hold till it hears the matter next on January 10.

Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh said it was not a law-and-order issue but one of national security.

“There is an impermissible stoppage of the PM’s cavalcade for 20 minutes which is the highest breach of any VIP security. This cannot be allowed to happen again, for which we all have to put our heads together,” he said, adding “this is a state which is ready to go to elections”.

The “purpose of the plea is to get it professionally investigated,” said Singh, underlining that it “cannot be done by the state”.

He said after he had brought the matter to the notice of the court Thursday, the Punjab government had appointed a committee. The name of the committee chairman, he said, was the subject matter of a judgement of the Supreme Court in 2011.

He said the Supreme Court had made adverse remarks on the conduct of the judge and, therefore, his appointment to the committee now raised suspicions on the bona fides of the inquiry.

Singh did not name the judge or elaborate on the case.

The reference, however, appeared to be to a 2011 judgement of the Supreme Court which quashed an order by a Punjab and Haryana High Court bench directing a CBI probe against former IPS officer Sumedh Singh Saini in an alleged fake encounter case. The HC bench included Justice Mehtab Singh Gill (now head of the Punjab committee) but the Supreme Court, in its then order, did not name the judge and referred to him as ‘Mr Justice X’ while stating that “the order impugned (of the HC) has rightly been challenged to be a nullity at least on three grounds” including “judicial bias” and the “entire judicial process appears to have been drowned to achieve a motivated result which we are unable to approve of”.

Singh said: “The need of the hour is that documents pertaining to this entire journey (of the Prime Minister) must be taken into custody for protection.”

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta backed the demand to seize and secure the records of the travel and called the security breach “one of the rarest of rare issues having serious potential of causing an international embarrassment”.

He said “whenever the PM’s cavalcade moves on road, it’s always the DG of the state who is consulted if it’s safe to travel on road, and only with his sanction does it proceed. Here, DG gave a green signal. He did not say there is a blockade”.

Mehta pointed out that there is always a warning car ahead of the cavalcade which remains at a distance of 500-700 m so that it can immediately alert the local police and vehicles behind if there is any problem.

“Though local police were very much there and seen enjoying tea… they did not alert the warning car that there was a blockade… The motorcade came to know only when it was on the flyover,” he said.

Mehta also referred to calls by the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice and said whatever happened could have a cross-border terror angle too.

“There’s a video by the banned terrorist organization. So-called head of that organisation, Sikhs for Justice, publicly calls people to do xyz things. This also can potentially be a question of cross-border terror… It has to be gone into,” he said.

He questioned the constitution of the committee by Punjab after the court had decided to hear the matter. “The committee ought not to have been constituted after the court decided to hear,” he said, adding that one of its members is the Home Secretary. “He may himself be potentially under the scanner,” Mehta said.

Punjab Advocate General D S Patwalia said he had serious problems with the contentions of the petition which “reeks of politics” but “Punjab is not taking it (security breach) lightly” and “there has been a lapse somewhere”.

The formation of the committee was “not an afterthought”, he said, adding “we got an FIR lodged to take cognisance. Now, the Centre has also formed a committee and has issued notice to state officials”.

Patwalia said if the Centre has problems with the state committee, the state too has problems with the Centre’s committee.

“One of the officers of the Central committee is S Suresh, who is IG of SPG. He was responsible for overall security… If my committee cannot do it, then that committee (of the Centre) cannot also be a judge of its own cause,” he said.

He sought setting up of an independent committee, saying “we have a doubt that they will throw the entire onus on Punjab Police… I say some fault is with SPG… So let it be a totally impartial committee. We certainly want the matter to be investigated. It can’t be thrown under the carpet”.

Maninder Singh, meanwhile, pointed out that the committee constituted by Punjab has been asked to submit a report in three days and urged the court to stay this.

Patwalia responded that the committee set up by the Centre had called its officials today and it should also hold its horses till the court hears the matter next on January 10.

Finally, the two sides agreed to put on hold all further actions by their committees until January 10.