Akanksha Singh –
Published on: September 4, 2021, at 13:42 IST
Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a bunch of petitions filed by Punjab Police officials by saying that “The jurisdiction of CBI’s Jammu branch to probe the cases related to disappearance of youths in Punjab from 1992 to 1994 cannot be held illegal.”
These petitions was filed by several Punjab Police officials, who are now retired and who were charged by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) for alleged abduction and killing of innocent persons in Punjab during that period.
The cases against these cops were registered in 1997 after the directions of the Supreme Court to CBI for investigation.
The main argument in the Court was that “The CBI did not have territorial jurisdiction to register a case in Jammu, despite the fact that all the incidents pertained to the state of Punjab”
Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan observed that the case was registered by CBI on February 28, 1997 u/s 364 and 34 of the IPC in J&K for kidnapping and common intention regarding the killing of Sukhwinder Singh in Amritsar. Similarly, other related cases were also registered in respect of kidnapping and murder of innocent persons.
As per the submission of Senior CBI Standing Counsel Sumeet Goel “The case was registered on the directions of the Apex Court and the jurisdiction of SIU-XVI Branch Jammu was extended to investigate these cases.”
Thereafter it was submitted by Senior Advocate R S Bains, who represented the complainant, in the Court that the petitioners are habitual of filing such kind of petitions to delay the trial.
Further after hearing all the arguments it was said by the High Court that the CBI probe by the Jammu unit cannot be said to be without jurisdiction as it was directed by the Apex Court.
Also Read: Punjab & Haryana HC allows Habeas Corpus for Child Custody