PM's security breach in Punjab: SC to announce name of judge to head probe panel
Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Jan, 2022 11:38 AM
New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday will announce the name of the retired top court judge who will head the committee to investigate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach in Punjab last week.
On Monday, after a detailed hearing in the matter, a bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said the court will set up a committee headed by a retired top court judge to probe the PM's security breach and asked both the Centre and Punjab government to not move ahead with their respective inquiries into the matter.
The bench said it will pass a detailed order in the matter. During the hearing, it orally proposed that other members of the committee would be Director General of Police, Chandigarh, Inspector General, National Investigation Agency (NIA), Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and Additional DGP, Security, Punjab.
The bench said: "We are taking the PM's security breach very seriously." It added that it will ask the committee to submit its report to it within a short span.
Advocate General D.S. Patwalia, representing the Punjab government, complained against show-cause notices to its Chief Secretary and the DGP. He urged the top court to form an independent committee to probe the matter. "Hang me if I am guilty... but don't condemn me unheard," submitted Patwalia.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, defended the show-cause notices issued by the Central government. However, the top court expressed its displeasure at Centre's stand, questioning what is the point of asking the court to examine the matter if the Centre wanted to go ahead on its own.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Delhi-based petitioner Lawyer's Voice, emphasised on the importance of protection to the PM of the country and cited previous top court ruling that looked at the SPG Act.
The ministry said that all due protocols and norms relating to Covid-19, as notified by the Union Health Ministry from time to time, shall be adhered to by the foreign tourists, the carriers bringing them to India and all other stakeholders at the landing stations.
Tamil Nadu farmers association Deputy Secretary, P.S. Masilamani, who had participated in the farmers' agitation in New Delhi, told IANS that the farmers of Cauvery delta are "disturbed and outraged by the mowing down of fellow farmers and we are conducting peaceful protest marches in solidarity with the farmers of Lakhimpur Kheri."
A total of 28 civilians have been killed by terrorists in Kashmir in 2021, IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar said in a statement on Thursday. The statement further said that in all such cases, the terrorists used pistols.
Farmers allege that the minister's son was in one of the cars that mowed the farmers. Ashish has been named in the FIR lodged in connection with the incident under IPC Section 302 (murder).
Fortunately, no one is injured in the incident, which was the fourth such case in Bengaluru in the last 15 days. The families who lived in the apartment managed to escape as soon as they got the first indication.
According to the farmer leaders, the last rites of three farmers was performed as wish of their families and with full customs. While one family, demanding the re-postmortem, has refused to perform the cremation.
