Ambala jail doc, Dy Supdt to face action

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 23

The Haryana Government is set to order proceedings for major punishment against Vishal Chhibber, Deputy Superintendent of Prisons (Administration), and Balwinder Singh, a dental surgeon at the Ambala jail, both held responsible for the escape of a prisoner from a Panchkula hospital in an inquiry.

Sources said after receipt of the inquiry report from Director General (Prisons) KP Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ram Niwas had already taken a decision to proceed against the two for a major penalty and sent the case to Minister for Jails Krishan Lal Panwar for further action.

Under the Haryana Civil Services (Punishments and Appeals) Rules, 2016, an official proceeded against for major penalty may lose his job by way of dismissal, removal from service or compulsory retirement.

Some other punishments that come under major penalties under the Rules are withholding of increments with cumulative effect, withholding of promotion for a specified period more than one year, reduction to a lower stage and reduction to a lower pay structure. Deepak Kumar, an undertrial lodged in the Ambala jail, had escaped from police custody on June 17 from the General Hospital in Panchkula, where he was brought for treatment. The sources said the inquiry conducted by Singh had revealed that though Balwinder Singh was a dental surgeon, he prescribed an MRI of knee joint for Deepak, who was getting treatment for pain in the knee from the jail dispensary. Chhibber allegedly not only approved the MRI test for knee prescribed by the dental surgeon but sent Deepak to hospital without first coordinating with the hospital authorities. “An MRI is not a test which can be done in a government hospital on the day of a patient’s choice. One has to take prior appointment for it,” said the sources. Further, given the fact that Deepak was a hardened criminal, Chhibber did not care to ensure that armed cops accompanied him to the Panchkula hospital. Three armed men had fired into the air and used pepper spray on the hospital staff and the police to free gangster Deepak Kumar, who was brought from the Ambala jail to the Panchkula hospital for a medical examination on June 17.