After hearing the matter, the Bench of Justices Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Vikas Suri issued the notice to the Chandigarh Administration for November 9, 2022. A detailed order was yet to be released. (file)The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Chandigarh Administration over a petition filed by Chandigarh Police Inspector Rajdeep Singh, seeking to quash an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which dismissed his plea requesting a stay on the departmental proceedings initiated against him till the criminal trial is concluded.
Inspector Singh, through his counsel Arshdeep Singh Bhullar, has contended that as a result of being named as an accused in the FIR on the disclosure of Sanjeev Mahajan, he was placed under suspension.
Subsequently, a regular departmental inquiry under Rule 16.24 of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, was ordered against him. Singh submitted a representation, dated January 10, 2022, that being in jail, he would not be in a position to defend himself in the departmental inquiry at this stage and as such the inquiry may be adjourned till conclusion of the trial in the criminal case. Singh also moved another representation with a request to allow him the assistance of an advocate and to keep inquiry proceedings pending till conclusion of the trial in the criminal prosecution pending but to no avail.
Advocate Bhullar has argued that the continuation of present departmental inquiry along with other two inquiries while the petitioner is lodged in Model Jail of Burail, Chandigarh, deprives the petitioner of his opportunity to a free and fair trial.
Subscriber Only Stories
After hearing the matter, the Bench of Justices Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Vikas Suri issued the notice to the Chandigarh Administration for November 9, 2022. A detailed order was yet to be released.
Rajdeep Singh, who is currently lodged in the Model Jail of Burail, is facing charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in an FIR no. 63 registered at Sector 39 police station. Along with nine others, he is accused of trying to grab a property of a person, Rahul Mehta, by taking undue advantage of his mental condition. By impersonating Mehta, they got registered a sale deed with regard to the house in Sector 37-A, Chandigarh, in the name of Saurabh Gupta. Rajdeep Singh, who was the then SHO, Sector 39 police station, was arrested for allegedly receiving illegal gratification to the tune of Rs 5 lakh from another accused, Sanjeev Mahajan, for helping accused persons in usurping the property in question.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
First published on: 04-08-2022 at 02:43:23 am