Amritsar, August 1: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Justice has directed the Punjab Government to take appropriate action against the cops who had framed Kirpal Singh Randhawa (56), a human rights activist and a key witness in the Jaswant Singh Khalra murder case.
Khalra, also a human rights activist, was kidnapped and murdered by the Punjab Police in 1995. He had been highlighting extra-judicial killings and mysterious disappearances during militancy in the state.Randhawa had written to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Justice, demanding the dismissal of the erring cops and the withdrawal of pension benefits of retired officials as per All India Service Conduct Rules.A rape case had been registered against him in Patiala in 2003, apparently to coerce him into not deposing before the court in the Khalra murder case, in which several senior police officials were allegedly involved.However, the rape case fell flat and Randhawa was acquitted by a Patiala court in December 2007. The appeal against the decision, filed by the state in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was dismissed in 2008.In January, the Patiala court awarded compensation of Rs 49 lakh to Randhawa, to be paid by the cops who allegedly framed him — former ADGP Rajinder Singh, IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal, then sub-inspectors Sarabjit Singh Cheema and Jaipal Singh and then SHO Shamsher Singh Guddu, besides a journalist, Parveen Komal, and a woman complainant. He is awaiting the compensation as the accused have filed an appeal against the ruling. Randhawa had also written to the Secretary, Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances, Punjab Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Affairs and Justice, Punjab. He said his fight for justice would end only when the accused cops were penalised for framing him in a rape case.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
