WERE THREATS TO SIDHU TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION, HC ASKS GOVT

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday asked Punjab government to apprise court by May 12 whether threat perception of the former Punjab Congress chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu was taken into consideration before downgrading his security cover.

The order was passed by high court bench of justice Raj Mohan Singh during resumed hearing of a plea by Congress leader claiming a threat to his life and demanding that his Z+ security cover be restored.

As per the plea, earlier Sidhu was given a Z+ security cover but was withdrawn in view of his jail term of 10 months in a 1988 road rage case. When the former cricketer came out of jail on April 1, his security cover was downgraded, and he was only provided with Y-category security cover, the plea had stated.

During the hearing, the state’s counsel had told court that after high court order of April 27, when Sidhu’s plea was taken up by the court for the first time, the process has been started of calling upon the inputs from different quarters.

He was having Z+ security when he went to jail and the competent authority had issued an intra departmental communication of restoring his security cover whenever he comes out of jail, the court was told adding that the high court in August 2022 had directed for analyzing the threat perception of the protectees based on the inputs provided by the central as well as state agencies.

Thereafter, state has slashed down Z+ security of the petitioner to Y+ security. But even then as many as 24 police personnel have been deputed in his security cover, the state’s counsel had told the court adding that state be granted time for filing a detailed reply.

The court now has posted the matter for May 12 asking the state to point out, whether at the time of reducing his security, the threat perception was ever taken into consideration or not.