‘Bishnoi can’t be apprehensive about being killed in fake encounter’: Punjab and Haryana High Court

The Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur had dismissed the plea of Bishnoi on Thursday, stating it to be “completely premature”.

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Bishnoi, who is presently lodged at Tihar Jail in Delhi, through his counsel, had contended before the Punjab and Haryana High Court that he may be eliminated in a staged encounter or through other extrajudicial means, and sought to to restrain the judicial magistrate of Mansa, Punjab, from issuing warrants for handing over his custody to the Punjab Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing Sidhu Moosewala’s murder. Bishnoi had also sought to be interrogated through video-conferencing facility.

Punjab Advocate General, Anmol Rattan Sidhu, along with Senior Deputy Advocate General, Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, and Advocate Pratham Sethi had argued that the Punjab Police had not mentioned Lawrence Bishnoi as an accused in the FIR filed in the case. Therefore, all the apprehensions of Bishnoi were completely premature, and, also misconstituted.

The Punjab counsels also placed on record an order of the Judicial Magistrate, Delhi, which revealed that on May 31, the Bishnoi was sent to the custody of Delhi Police’s special cell.

Justice Thakur after hearing the matter observed, “In view of the unchallenged order made on May 31, by the Magistrate concerned, the period of Bishnoi’s police remand granted to the investigating agency concerned was not over, as of date.”