Security concern: Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi withdraws plea from Delhi HC
Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Jun, 2022 11:49 AM
New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, named as a suspect in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, on Wednesday withdrew from Delhi High Court his plea seeking protection amid apprehension of "fake encounter" by Punjab police for "political mileage".
The matter came up for hearing before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.
As the hearing began, Bishnoi's counsel Adv. Vishal Chopra sought liberty for withdrawal of the plea.
On the other hand, Advocate Sanjay Lao appearing for the Delhi Police, stated that the plea was not maintainable anyway.
Accordingly, the petition has been withdrawn.
Now, Bishnoi will approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court with the plea.
The gangster had moved the high court after a NIA court of Patiala House Court junked his plea on Monday. In the plea, he sought a direction to the Delhi Police and the Tihar Jail authorities to ensure all necessary security arrangements for him.
The petitioner sought the court's direction to Central Jail Authorities to give prior intimation to his counsels before his custody is given to any other state police on any production warrant. He should be duly handcuffed, shackled and video-graphed during the production warrant and on transit remand if any warrant is produced by the Punjab police for the safety of his life, the plea stated.
The Punjab police has alleged that Bishnoi was involved in the murder of Sidhu Moosewala.
The accused is entitled to a fair and true investigation and a fair trial and the prosecution is expected to play a balanced role in the trial of a crime. The investigation should be judicious, fair, transparent and expeditious and the investigating authority should ensure the safety of any accused person, his plea said.
"Fair trial includes fair investigation as envisaged by Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The role of the police is to be for the protection of life, liberty and property of citizens, that investigation of offences being one of its foremost duties. That the aim of the investigation is ultimately to search for truth and to bring the offender to book," the plea read.
Currently lodged in Tihar jail in a MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) case, Bishnoi is allegedly involved in more than five dozen criminal cases lodged against him in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. He had once threatened to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan.
As per reports, Goldy Brar, a Canada-based gangster and Lawrence Bishnoi have claimed responsibility for the murder of Moosewala. Singer-turned-actor-politician Sidhu Moosewala, 29, was shot dead by gangsters close to his ancestral village in Mansa in Punjab in broad daylight on Sunday.
The killing of the rapper has sparked a huge political controversy and the Punjab Government is at the receiving end.
After the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the state for the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, enforcement teams have seized valuables worth Rs 23.8 crore in violation of code, besides confiscating unaccounted cash till January 12, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab S. Karuna Raju said on Thursday.
Channi expressed regret while participating in a virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi with Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of states and UTs to review the prevailing Covid situation as well as the ongoing vaccination drive.
Unveiling the first set of plans in his Punjab Model with focus on resurrection of Punjab, Sidhu, in the absence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Cabinet colleagues, told the media here: "Punjab Model is people's model, an effort to give a roadmap to return power to people."
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he "personally" feels that alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab had cost the BJP heavily.
India on Tuesday recorded 1,68,063 new Covid cases, taking the total tally to 8,21,446. Although the fresh infections were 6.4 per cent less than Monday when the country logged 1,79,723, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 8.85 per cent and the daily positivity rate has declined to 10.64 per cent. On the other hand, 4,461 Omicron cases were recorded from 28 states.
Delhi reported a 25 per cent surge in Covid-19 cases after recording 19,166 fresh cases. With this, the infection tally has climbed to 15,68,896. Meanwhile, the city has recorded 17 Covid deaths on the second consecutive day, pushing the death toll to 25,177.
