Kotkapura firing: Punjab and Haryana HC gives clean chit to Badals

Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 23

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has not only given former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal a clean chit in the Kotkapura firing case, but also ruled that the conclusion of police firing being unprovoked was against the record. The Bench also ruled that IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh indulged political maneuvering and misused his official position

In his 89-page judgment release on Friday, Justice Rajbir Sehrawat ruled conversation between a Chief Minister with the district administration or the State DGP during disturbed law and order situation was not sufficient to infer conspiracy to kill or injure anybody through police firing upon the protestors, unless some other material was collected by the investigating officer to establish prior meeting of minds for conspiracy and directly linking the CM to it.

“If mere talking of the Chief Minister, or for that matter by a minister with his DGP or the district administration, is taken as a criminal conspiracy, any Chief Minister can be held criminally liable every day for any wrong-doing resulting from wrong functioning of district officials,” Justice Sehrawat ruled.

The Bench added the fact that the then chief minister was in contact with the district officials, rather, showed he was alive to the situation and to his responsibility even during odd hours. Otherwise, he would have run the risk of being branded as another Nero playing fiddle when Rome was burning.

No material was collected by Kunwar to even remotely suggest direct his linkage to any conspiracy, except the call records. He claimed the then CM talked through the phones of his principal secretary and OSD. But their version was taken on record to substantiate the nature of conversation. None of the other witnesses was stated to have even remotely suggested that he conspired to kill the protestors by police firing.

Police firing

After hearing senior advocate RS Cheema for the petitioner-police officers, the Bench ruled the firing was stated to have taken place in the third stage, after third order was passed by the civil authorities. “The protestors are recorded to have chased and attacked the police, including with the swords. Therefore, the conclusion that the protestors were sitting peacefully when the police started firing and also the conclusion that firing by the police was unprovoked, is against the record,” the Bench asserted.

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh

The Bench found that Kunwar conducted the investigation in a perfunctory manner and the final investigation report filed by him was more in the nature of a hypothesis based on his assumptions and fantasies, than on material or evidence. Even before starting the investigation in FIR No.192 dated October 14, 2015, he declared police firing was totally ‘unprovoked’ and the protestors ‘peaceful’

The petitioners were successful in showing he went to the extent of manufacturing statements of witnesses to suit his designs. The conclusions drawn by him were found to be against the statement of witnesses and material collected.

He intended to create a narrative in favour of a political party against the other during the election process. Public pressure to get alleged erring police officials convicted also appeared to have adversely affected the fairness of the investigation.