Fearing fake encounter, Bhagwanpuria moves HC

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 11

Claiming that he was being was being made a scapegoat following political rivalry brewing between former Akali minister Bikram Singh Majithia and Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court maintaining he was nobody’s man and expressing apprehension of being killed in a fake encounter or in the prison.

Lodged in Patiala Central Jail, Bhagwanpuria is seeking his transfer to Amritsar jail, where a majority of cases lodged against him are pending. As his petition filed through counsel Pradeep Virk came up for hearing before Justice Harnaresh Singh Gill, the state counsel appeared before the Bench with assurance of filing a reply to the contentions raised in the plea.

Virk contented on Bhagwanpuria’s behalf that the petitioner was not linked to any political party and was merely being used for the “realisation of political motives of certain individuals”.

Elaborating, Virk submitted that Majithia was trying to get an FIR registered against Randhawa in the murder case of Gurdaspur district SAD vice-president Dalbir Singh Dhilwan. In the process, the petitioner was being portrayed as Randhawa’s henchman. The petitioner has also been accused of issuing death threats to Majithia as part of the “malicious propaganda”.

Randhawa, on the other hand, has been levelling allegations that the petitioner had been working for long under the clout of Akali Dal leaders inasmuch 44 cases had been registered against him, of which 29 were lodged in Majithia’s constituency Amritsar (Rural). He had further alleged that the petitioner’s brother managed to flee the country under the previous SAD-BJP regime.

Virk added that the petitioner was also apprehending danger to his life and liberty by certain Punjab Police officials, who for some reasons and political gains were trying to threaten him. “Not only this, various endeavours are also been made by certain jail officials to kill the petitioner by staging a false encounter inasmuch as he was given an opportunity to scale the wall of the Patiala Jail so that it could be shown that the petitioner was trying to flee from jail and was thus consequently killed”.

Besides, the security cover provided to the petitioner during transit from Patiala Central jail to Amritsar Sessions Court had suddenly been reduced. He was also being constantly harassed and brutally beaten by the police and jail officials in utter violation of his fundamental right of protection against custodial torture guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.