New Delhi, January 7
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to secure and preserve forthwith all records relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab and the security lapse.
A Bench led by CJI NV Ramana directed the Punjab Government, police authorities, the SPG and other central agencies to give necessary assistance to the Registrar General to seal the entire record.
The order came on a petition filed by Lawyer’s Voice seeking a thorough probe into the lapse in the Prime Minister’s security during his visit to Punjab on January 5.
The Bench – which also included Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli – asked the committees set up by the Centre and Punjab not to go ahead with their inquiry for the time being and posted the matter for Monday.
On behalf of the petitioners, senior advocate Maninder Singh demanded that the state’s committee should be stayed.
Punjab Advocate General DS Patwalia said certainly there was a lapse and the state didn’t want to join issue with the petitioners or the Centre.
He, however, said both the Centre and the state committees should hold their horses till Monday. “We can proceed according to the directions of this court,” Patwalia said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the records must be secured first and then the top court can decide the future course of action on Monday.
The security breach happened on Wednesday when Modi was on his way to address a BJP rally and his cavalcade had to take a U-turn after some protesters blocked his way. The Prime Minister was reportedly stuck on a flyover for around 20 minutes.
Terming it an “unacceptable” and “serious lapse” on the part of the Punjab government and the state police, the petitioners have demanded a thorough investigation into it under the supervision of the top court.
The petitioners wanted the court to pass orders to fix responsibility of the Punjab Chief Secretary and the state’s DGP and place them under suspension; and direct the Centre to initiate departmental action against them.
