MANJEET SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE gruesome murder of his young unmarried daughter, aged about 24 years, and the subsequent move by the prosecution to release some of the accused persons, allegedly found to be innocent during the course of investigation and a strong suspicion against those very persons being guilty of committal of rape and murder of his daughter, are the compelling circumstances which have prompted the petitioner to knock at the doors of this Court to command the official respondents, namely, the State of Punjab and its Police Authorities to hold an independent probe preferably by the Central Bureau of Investigation (for short, the CBI) in FIR No. 94 dated June 22, 2003 under Sections 302, 379, 411, 201 and 34, IPC, P.S. Mahilpur, District Hoshiarpur.

(2.) AS per the averments made in the writ petition, the daughter of the petitioner, namely, Ram Tirath Kaur, aged about 24 years had done a computer course after graduation and had been working as a Teacher with Brilliant Computer Centre, Mahilpur for the last over 18 months. On June 21, 2003, she, as usual, left her house in the morning for the centre; she used to come back home at about lunch time but did not return on the above mentioned date; the petitioner and other family members waited for Ram Tirath Kaur but when she failed to return for a pretty long time, they rang up the owner of the Brilliant Computer Centre, Mahilpur to enquire about their daughter and were told by Bal Kishan Sharma that she had gone to her Nanka's place (maternal grandfather's place); the petitioner then checked up with his in-laws but was told that she had not visited them; the petitioner and other family members searched every nook and corner to find out the whereabouts of his daughter but in vain; they went to Brilliant Computer Centre, Mahilpur on the next day early in the morning; some more persons had gathered over there and when they went inside the house situated in front of the Computer Centre, they found half naked and blood-smeared body of his daughter; Ram Tirath Kaur had been brutally raped and murdered; FIR No. 94 dated June 21, 2003 (Annexure P-4) was got registered (in the supplementary statement made by the petitioner, he suspected the involvement of Bal Kishan Sharma, owner of the Brilliant Computer Centre and his sons, namely, Rakesh Kumar, Navdeep and Amandeep in the ghastly crime); the petitioner went inside the Computer Centre and noticed blood stains in one of its rooms; apparently the body of Ram Tirath Kaur was brought from the Computer Centre and was placed in the building which was under construction and was situated right across the premises of the Computer Centre; it seems that Ram Tirath Kaur was raped and murdered in the Computer Centre itself and then her body was brought to the building under construction situated in front thereof; that Bal Kishan Sharma and others had tremendous influence in the area and soon after the registration of the case, the police presented an application for discharge of the accused and instead named one Sanjay Singh son of Tugal Singh, as an accused; challan has been presented only against the said Sanjay Singh who is a labourer (Bhaiyya); the petitioner moved an application on October 1, 2003 (Annexure P-5) in the Court below that the investigation of the case be handed over to the CBI; that the real culprits have been left of and a "Bhaiyya" has been implicated in the rape and murder of petitioner's daughter who was 5'-8" tall and healthy, whereas the "Bhaiyya" who has been implicated in the case is about 5' tall and possesses a very weak physique; apparently the rape and murder of Ram Tirath Kaur is handi-work of a number of persons but in order to save Bal Kishan Sharma and his sons, they were let off; that people of the area were very much agitated regarding the manner in which the police is investigating the case and even a committee has been formed to pursue the case; representations were given to the different authorities and the matter has also been reported in the Press (Reference Annexure P-6); that grave injustice has been done to the petitioner by discharging the real culprits by the State Police; that it would, therefore, be just and fair if an independent probe is ordered into the matter and the investigation of the case is handed over to the CBI.

(3.) BEFORE adverting to the stand taken up by the official and private respondents, particularly in relation to the manner in which the investigation of the shocking incident has been carried out by the Police Authorities, we mention that the private respondent Nos. 5 to 8, namely, Bal Kishan Sharma and his alleged three sons were arrested by the Police and after their thorough interrogation the prosecution moved an application before the Ilaqa Magistrate for their discharge/release from the custody on the plea that after having investigated the matter from all possible angles and taking the investigation to a logical end, it has reached to the conclusion that respondent Nos. 5 to 8 were innocent and the offence was allegedly committed by one Sanjay Singh. After notice to the complainant, the Judicial Magistrate, Ist Class, Hoshiarpur, vide order dated September 20, 2003 (Annexure R-2 to the reply of private respondents) ordered the release of respondent Nos. 5 to 8 from custody but dismissed the same qua the relief of discharge and gave liberty to the prosecution to move an application for their discharge before the learned Sessions Judge, that being the competent Court to try the offence. It seems that passing of the aforesaid order led the petitioner to move the present petition which was filed in the first week of November, 2003 though no relief was sought by him for quashing/setting aside the same.