HC expunges security lapse remark, asks IPS officer to probe matter

Just about a fortnight after a “miscreant” committed suicide in Amritsar by seizing the firearm of a personal security officer assigned to a sitting judge, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Haryana cadre IPS officer Manisha Chaudhary to carry out the probe. She is currently posted as AIR/Administration in Panchkula.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal entrusted her the task of “conducting and concluding investigation in a free, fair and impartial manner as expeditiously as possible”. She was also directed to file a weekly compliance report reflecting the stage and progress in investigation. In all, three FIRs have been registered in the matter.

The Bench, at the same time, expunged the observation “there is definitely lapse of security” from its order dated September 24. The Judges observed the court might have gone a little overboard by concluding at an early stage that there was definitely lapse of security on the Punjab Police part. But the court had no intention to cast any aspersions on reputation or the integrity of police personnel of the State of Punjab.

The Bench added that the observations were made by the court looking at “the emergent and grave situation, where this court in its wisdom felt that if the PSO deputed with the Judge cannot take care of his firearm, secured to his person, then grave doubts arise as to the alertness and vigilance exercised by the said police personnel”.

Fixing the case for further hearing on October 15, the Bench asked the UT Administration and the State of Haryana to submit weekly threat perception report so that the court could decide the future course of action in the matter.

The Division Bench had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter on the basis of news-items published on September 22 in The Tribune and another newspaper.

The Bench asserted that the reports were regarding the incident that took place outside the Golden Temple, Amritsar, “when a miscreant pulled out the firearm of a PSO of sitting judge of this court and committed suicide by shooting himself”.