HC to panel: Don’t insist on appearance of Virender Kumar

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday asked justice (retd) SN Jha panel not to insist on personal appearance of Virender Kumar, political adviser to then Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda before it.

The panel was constituted to probe the conspiracy angle in the violence witnessed during the Jat agitation of February 2016. Nearly 30 persons had died during violent protests that lasted for over week-long.

He was summoned by the commission to clarify his position on certain material before it.

During the hearing, the court observed that it needed to be examined whether the terms of reference of the commission and the proceedings in FIRs registered in this case were overlapping.

The court was hearing a petition of Kumar seeking quashing of the commission arguing that during the pendency of investigation by the SIT, there was no necessity of setting up a commission as the entire proceedings of the panel were based on the FIR itself. The FIR in question relates to alleged incidents of looting, vandalism and arson in Rohtak. An audio clip had surfaced

in which Kumar was allegedly heard provoking a person to create law and order problem in Sirsa area.

During the hearing, advocate general BR Mahajan clarified that the terms of reference of the commission and the proceedings in the FIR are totally different. The proceedings of the commission have made considerable headway and at this stage he had no right to challenge it, Mahajan had argued.

The matter will now be taken up on November 14.