ATMA SINGH BHULLAR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AS illogical as it may seem, but strictly and truly speaking, the tendency and frequency of such police personnel, who have been charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (for brevity "the CBI") for the commission of heinous offences of criminal conspiracy, illegal detention, kidnapping and murders etc., to delay the disposal of criminal cases, on one pretext or the other, for the reasons best known to them, have been tremendously increasing day by day. The instant matters originated from two decade's old occurrences, are the burning example of such like cases. At the same time, the judicial system also cannot escape its liability in this respect, for variety of reasons, perhaps mainly on account of paucity of infrastructural capability and capacity. God knows who is to be blamed for it.

(2.) BE that as it may, since the identical questions of law and facts are involved, so, I propose to decide all the above indicated petitions, by virtue of this common judgment, in order to avoid the repetition. However, the relevant facts and material, which need a necessary mention for the limited purpose of deciding the core controversy, involved in the instant petitions, recapitulated from main petition (1) CRM No. M-7861 of 2005 titled as "Atma Singh Bhullar & Ors. Vs. State of Punjab & Anr." at the first instance and thereafter the prosecution versions of CBI in other connected cases, would be referred in subsequent part of this judgment for ready reference in this context.

(3.) IN pursuance of the first direction, the CBI registered and investigated the case against accused Prithipal Singh, Satnam Singh, Surinderpal & Jasbir Singh etc., for hatching a criminal conspiracy, causing disappearance, kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra, General Secretary, Human Rights Wing of Shiromani Akali Dal (popularly known as Jaswant Singh Khalra's case). Having completed all the codal formalities, the accused (therein) were convicted and sentenced by the Additional Sessions Judge, Patiala, for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 120-B, 302, 364 and 201 read with Section 34 IPC, by way of judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 18.11.2005. Their appeals were also dismissed by this Court, vide judgment dated 8.10.2007.