Gurugram theft: IPS officer Dheeraj Setia's plea for transfer of case dismissed

Tribune News Service

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, February 8

The multi-crore Gurugram burglary case has been transferred out of the court of Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Jasbir Singh.

‘Setia tried to cover up theft’

In an order of December 16, the ASJ had pointed out that Setia “might have tried to cover up the multi-crore theft with the active concurrence of his superior officers and with the active involvement, by way of arm twisting, of his junior officers of crime branch”.

Absconding IPS officer Dheeraj Setia had alleged in a transfer application that a co-accused in the case was a Facebook friend of ASJ Jasbir Singh, but the Sessions Court dismissed his application. However, later ASJ Jasbir Singh himself recused from the case.

The key conspirator of the burglary, Dr Sachinder Nawal, had disclosed to the STF, Haryana Police, that gold, cash, and US dollars, worth Rs 2.5 crore, were given to Setia for hushing up the burglary case when he was posted as the DCP in Gurugram. But later, he returned it, saying the matter was out of his hands though he kept a few thousand dollars.

As per the STF chargesheet, the theft at two flats of a private firm in August 2021 could be of around Rs 30-40 crore, and doctors, along with gangster Vikas Lagarpuria and a Delhi cop, were involved in the matter.

In his transfer application, Setia alleged that Dr Nawal and ASJ Jasbir Singh were Facebook friends for long and “the exchange of messages too had taken place between them”. He added that the disclosure statement of Dr Nawal was false and that was why he refused the polygraph test.

Setia added that the ASJ, without any material on record, treated Dr Nawal’s statement as Gospel truth and recorded the observations that to hush up the case, some illegal gratification was paid to him.

Meanwhile, in his comments, ASJ Jasbir Singh, while refuting the allegations of any prejudice or bias against Setia, admitted that Dr Nawal was his Facebook friend. He added that he had “no objection” if the case was transferred to some other court.

Sessions Judge Surya Pratap Singh observed that when Setia moved the transfer application on January 19, neither any of his bail application nor any chargesheet against him was pending before the court of ASJ Jasbir Singh. While dismissing his application on February 4, the Sessions Judge concluded that he had no “locus standi” to seek transfer of the case.

On Dr Nawal being a Facebook friend of the ASJ, the Sessions Judge said the most significant fact to be noted was that when Dr Nawal moved an application for regular bail after being in custody for more than two and a half months, the ASJ had dismissed it on January 21.

On Setia’s objections to the ASJ’s directions to the Investigating Officer, the Sessions Court said since those observations were made in the judicial order, the remedy available before him was to challenge it before the appropriate forum.

On February 7, ASJ Jasbir Singh again made a reference that in order to avoid any wrong impression, he didn’t want to hear the case. This time, the Sessions Judge accepted it and transferred Setia’s anticipatory bail application as well as the trial of the case to ASJ Amit Sahrawat.

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