High court seeks report from SIT on exonerated persons

Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday directed Punjab police’s special investigation team (SIT) probing the Jagdish Bhola drug racket to file a report in a sealed cover about accused persons exonerated following the SIT’s relook into the cases afresh after a 2015 order of the court.

The SIT comprising three officers of inspector general rank, Ishwar Singh, G Nageshwar Rao and V Neerja, to review the probe, was constituted by the HC in October 2015.

As the hearing began on Wednesday, the court’s impartial adviser, Raj Kumar Gupta, submitted that the SIT had exceeded its brief and exonerated several accused in its probe .“In Jaland hart hey have done so. It is contemptuous ,” Gupta added further, referring to similar issue raised by senior advocate Anupam Gupta in September 2016. Gupta had pointed towards certain reports of SIT members meeting the accused inside jails.

Raj Kumar Gupta’s apparent reference was towards the acquittal of Bhola, businessman Jagjit S Chahal, former Akali leader Maninder S Aulakh ‘ Bittu’, and two cops in a drug recovery case in August 2016. Taking serious note of submissions, the HC bench of justices Surya Kant and Sudip Ahluwalia has now directed the SIT to file a report about such persons along with relevant portions of supplementary challans.

Meanwhile, former DGP (prisons) Shashi Kant accused the Punjab government of misleading the court. He also questioned as to how, in 5,517 drug-seizure cases, the state was able to identify only 152 ‘sources’. “A close study only exposes their lack of will and action because all 152 ‘sources’ appear to be nothing but petty drug peddlers... No attempt was made to reach out to the initiating source and to identify ‘druglords’ whose complete chain of supply had channelised these drugs to these petty peddlers,” Kant submitted.

The matter will next be taken up on March 27.