Munmun Kaur
Published On: January 08, 2022 at 12:07 IST
The Supreme Court on January 07, ordered the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to ‘Forthwith’ seize and secure records of the security measures for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab on January 5. The Order is aimed to prevent possible tampering of the official records.
A Bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli ordered, “We direct the Director-General of Police, Union Territory of Chandigarh and an officer of the National Investigation Agency, not below the rank of Inspector General, to be nominated by the Director-General, National Investigation Agency, to assist the Registrar-General, Punjab and Haryana High Court, to forthwith secure and seize the records from the State police as well as Central agencies”.
The Bench has also posted the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Advocates’ body Lawyers Voice, for further hearing on January 10.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that the investigation must rise above the Centre and State politics. He further drew the attention of the Court to the statement given by the head of banned terror organization Sikhs For Justice ahead of the PM’s Punjab visit and the possible cross border terrorism angle.
Tushar Mehta, also pointed to the need of the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court being assisted by NIA for identifying the various sources in the Punjab government and police for collecting the official records as each and every relevant official was informed about the route to be taken by the PM’s motorcade.
Meanwhile, Punjab Advocate General D S Patwalia told the Court that Charanjit Singh Channi led Congress government has assured that whosoever was responsible for the security lapse will be identified and punished. They have further shown their support to any independent investigation of the entire incident.