Bagga case: Punjab moves High Court on 'detention', Haryana, Delhi told to respond

Chandigarh, May 6

Hours after the Haryana Police “abruptly and illegally restrained” the Punjab Police from taking BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga to Mohali after arresting him from the national Capital, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the States of Haryana and Delhi to file their reports.

“In view of urgency involved in the matter, the Advocate-General, Haryana, as well as Additional Solicitor-General of India have been asked to file their respective reports today itself,” Justice Lalit Batra asserted. The case will now come up for further hearing on Saturday.

The direction came on a habeas corpus petition filed by the State of Punjab challenging the “detention” of its police officials in Kurukshetra. As the case came up for preliminary hearing before Justice Batra’s Bench, Punjab Advocate-General Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu submitted that Delhi Police officials had “illegally taken away Bagga from the lawful custody of the Punjab Police”. He added that 12 police officials illegally detained by the Haryana Police at Kurukshetra may be released forthwith (they were released in the evening) and Bagga’s custody be restored to the Punjab Police.

Matter Urgent

In view of urgency involved in the matter, the Advocate-General, Haryana, as well as Additional Solicitor-General of India have been asked to file their respective reports. Justice Lalit Batra

Justice Batra’s Bench was also told that DSP Kuljinder Singh had gone to Janakpuri police station in Delhi to intimate about Bagga’s arrest with a view to get the DDR lodged, but to no avail. Instead, he was “illegally detained” by the Delhi Police officials. Also appearing for the State of Punjab, senior advocate Puneet Bali added that the Haryana Police had made a mockery out of the entire thing. Bali said this would break the federal structure of the Constitution and create anarchy. Bagga was legally arrested and the State of Haryana’s action was unprecedented, he contended.

Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain, on the other hand, submitted that the Delhi Police were not informed about the arrest. A wireless message was flashed to intercept and trace “abducted” Bagga. On receipt of information from Kurukshetra police, Bagga was rescued by the Delhi Police with the assistance of Kurukshetra cops and taken to Delhi for being produced in court.

Haryana Advocate-General Baldev Raj Mahajan added: “In terms of deliberations made by the Delhi Police and the Punjab Police and further in pursuant to search warrant issued by Delhi court, custody of Bagga was handed over to the Delhi Police”.

He submitted that Punjab Police officials were not “detained” by the Kurukshetra police in any manner. They were, on their own, sitting in the room of Sadar police station SHO.

Appearing on Bagga’s behalf, senior advocates RS Rai and Chetan Mittal contended that neither the Delhi Police nor a magistrate was informed. The allegation of detaining the cops was only an attempt to cover-up its own actions of picking up Bagga, they maintained.

In its petition, Punjab contended that around 10 of its cops were illegally detained by the Haryana Police while they were returning from Delhi after legally arresting Bagga in connection with a case registered at Mohali.

Directions were sought to produce and release the detainees—Inspector Shiv Kumar, Sub-Inspector Reena, ASIs Amandeep Verma, Deepak Singh and Gurpartap Singh; constables Amritpal Singh and an official with the same name, Satnam Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Harinder Singh, Rajbir Singh and Simranjit Singh.