Soni Satti
Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) questioned the Punjab and Haryana High court’s decision to halt the special investigation team (SIT) inquiry into the Kotkapura firing case, saying that the courts have recently been “over-indulgent towards police officials.”
In a statement, a retired High Court judge stated, justice has so far eluded those who have suffered at the hands of “trigger happy” police officers who “killed and injured” protesters at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura in 2015.
He added, “First, the then government and administration did everything to save the guilty officials, who committed a serious offence of murder/attempt to murder. Lately, the courts have been over-indulgent towards police officials without sparing any thought for those who were killed and injured in this firing suffering lifelong handicaps,”
In 2017, Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government appointed Justice Singh to lead an inquiry commission into the cases of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib and subsequent police firing in Faridkot district, which resulted in the deaths of two Sikh protestors.
The incidents occurred during the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP coalition’s government, which was headed by Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
The panel’s report was submitted in 2018.
Last week, a High Court bench quashed the Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) findings into the Kotkapura firing case and asked the SIT to be reconfigured without IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh.
According to Justice Singh, public pressure has held the cases alive, resulting in the filing of multiple charge sheets against those found to be responsible.
Citing some Supreme Court decisions, Justice Singh said, “Interference in the investigation by the courts is never done, especially when police have filed challans after completion of the investigation,”