JUSTICE (RETD.) RANJIT SINGH Vs. SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The complainant, a member of the Commission of Inquiry constituted under the Commissions of Inquiry Act , 1952 (for short, 1952 Act), through various notifications, Annexures C-8(i), 8(ii) & 8(iii), has invoked the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 10-A of the 1952 Act by making the respondents as accused enclosing three applications, i.e., CRM No.5006 of 2019 for seeking exemption from filing typed/certified copies of news reports Annexures C-1 to C-5 and CDs Annexures C-6 and C-7, CRM No.5007 of 2019 under proviso to sub-section (5) of Section 10- A of 1952 Act for exemption from personal appearance as Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry and CRM No.5008 of 2019 under proviso to Section 200 read with Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 for dispensing with the examination of the complainant and witnesses.

(2.) The facts and circumstances resulting into filing of the complaint, in brief, are recapitulated as under:- Complainant, a former Judge of this Court, vide notification dated 14.04.2017, Annexure C-8 (i), was appointed as a Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry regarding the incidents of alleged desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in 2015, particularly in District Faridkot and other places in the State, to conduct an inquiry into the incidents of sacrilege by confining its scope as under:-

(3.) The tenure of the Commission was fixed as six months. However, vide second notification dated 22.09.2017, Annexure C-8(ii), the tenure was extended for another six months, i.e., upto 12.04.2018. Through another notification dated 02.04.2018, Annexure C-8 (iii), period was extended upto Respondent No.1, at the time of the incident, was Deputy Chief Minister as well as the Home Minister of the State of Punjab and similarly, respondent No.2 was elected member of the State Legislative Assembly. Earlier a Commission of Inquiry was constituted headed by a former Judge of this Court to enquire into the acts and incidents, but after extension of the terms of the previous Chairman, report was submitted on 30.06.2016, which was not accepted by the Government resulting into appointment of the complainant as the Chairman. The complainant, being Chairman of the Commission, executed his duties and functions in a completely non-partisan manner and with utmost honesty, integrity and a great sense of responsibility and on publication of the enquiry report, respondent No.1 and his associates embarked upon a tirade to publicly undermine and ridicule the Commission as well as the complainant, which as per the provisions of Section 10-A of 1952 Act, constitute an offence and the offences have been committed by means of medium of Social Media, Press Conferences, Print Media, Public Gatherings, Interviews etc. Certain instances have been referred to in Para 9 of the petition and its English translation. The allegations levelled by respondent No.1 are stated to be false, baseless and have been made with the solitary motive to malign the reputation of the complainant on his degree of law, complainant not only served in the JAG Branch of the Indian Army, but also practiced as an Advocate for approximately two decades and adorn the Bench of this court for a period of more than seven years. The second incident of willful disrepute was allegedly done on 27.08.2018 outside the Punjab Legislative Assembly at Chandigarh by respondent Nos.1 and 2 along with several other members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) protested against the enquiry report, thus, respondent Nos.1 and 2 have committed the offences of grave nature. The offences have been committed on public platforms, in full view, hearing of the entire citizens of the State of Punjab and even beyond. Press conferences were also widely broadcasted in various news channels and other digital platforms, like, YouTube etc. On having viewed the press conferences on Television, the witnesses were shocked that they have casted the remarks on the reputation of a Judge resulting into jostling of stature and dignity of the complainant.