Court to pronounce order on Punjab drug racket on Nov 18
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Oct, 2021 11:36 AM
Chandigarh, Oct 26 (IANS) After over three years "delay" in the Punjab multi-crore drug case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday announced it will pass an order on November 18.
It also observed that the matter has been pending adjudication without any effective order being passed since 2018.
Earlier, an application was filed by the state for examining status reports filed in 2018 be taken up on priority.
After examining the plea, an order was passed by a bench of Justices A.G. Masih and A.K. Verma to enable the prosecuting agency to proceed as per law, an official statement quoting the office of Advocate General A.P.S. Deol said.
The bench considered the plea raised on behalf of the state and after hearing the Advocate General for an hour, orally observed that the bench "is conscious of the fact that the matter has been pending adjudication without any effective order being passed since May 23, 2018 and, therefore, the bench does not want to give an impression that we are sitting over the matter".
"So considering the plea raised in the application, the court has directed the Registrar Judicial to produce the status reports in sealed cover in chamber and observed that we will examine the reports in these days prior to passing the order on November 18," said the statement.
The request of Satya Pal Jain, representing the Centre, to file further status report with regard to the progress in the extradition of certain accused as well as the latest report by the Enforcement Directorate and other agencies be filed on November 15, two days before the pronouncement of the order.
Earlier, the case was being heard by the bench of Justices Rajan Gupta and Ajay Tewari but the latter recused himself from hearing the case on September 1.
Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, representing Singh, submitted his client has been in jail for the past two years, and added that his custody is not required, as two charge sheets have already been filed.
Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government for delay in recording statements of witnesses before a judicial magistrate in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, where eight persons were killed, and also told the state government to dispel the impression that it is dragging its feet in the matter.
In a statement, the minister termed the decision by the CBSE to include all regional languages in the minor subjects as a conspiracy to wean students away from their mother tongue.
Delhi government has always tried to release the compensation soon after the announcement and has done so in the past too, he said, adding that the compensation amount given by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)- led government is the highest in the country.
As per the information, Raj Kaur, a resident of Kassel, presently residing in Cheema Kalan in Tarn Taran district, had alleged that her brother Lakhbir Singh was allured by some persons and taken to Singhu where he was murdered by some Nihang Sikhs on October 15 for alleged sacrilege.
The issue was up for deliberation on Wednesday during the meeting between the party leaders and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Congress' Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat.
