Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 03 Jun, 2022 09:57 AM
New Delhi, June 3 (IANS) A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by BJP Punjab leader Jagjit Singh seeking CBI investigation in the cold-blooded murder of famous Punjabi rap singer Sidhu Moosewala.
The plea, filed through advocate-on-record Namit Saxena and advocates Sarthak Chaturvedi and Shubham Jaiswal, submitted that there is a storm of fear and terror in Punjab, which warrants interference by the Supreme Court as fundamental rights of entire population of Punjab have been jeopardised at large.
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, known by his stage name 'Sidhu Moosewala', was shot dead in broad daylight on May 29 by unknown assailants. The plea said he was a young artist of just 28 years of age, who became globally famous by performing a niche art of Punjabi rap.
"The brutal murder of Sidhu Moosewala is a glaring example where the conscience of the community at large has been shocked and people of Punjab are confident that no effective investigation will be done by the state, rather it will try to cover up its failure by removing the security cover and the incident deserves to be investigated by a central agency," said the plea.
The plea said on the next day of the murder, names of gangsters such as Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar started coming into play when they took the responsibility of killing the deceased. "That also the present facts of the case involve not only inter-state but also international crime syndicates and it is expedient in the interests of justice if the investigation related to the present FIR is transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation," added the plea.
The petitioner contended it is also important to bear in mind that it is not arcane knowledge that Punjab is ridden with the menace of drugs and gun culture. "The state has unfortunately not ridden itself from the movement of separatists seeking establishment of Khalistan and therefore possibility of involvement of separatists in the murder also cannot be ruled out. The matter at hand deserves investigation by a central agency such as the CBI," it added.
The plea argued that the CBI being a central agency, has a far more reach and jurisdiction than the state authorities and the same would also help the state authorities, the justice they seek.
The plea said the way the cold blooded killing was done in broad daylight is indicative of the fact that the state machinery in Punjab has miserably failed in its duty not only to prevent the crime but also to effectively curb the menace of gangwars.
Singh had contested from Sardurgarh seat on a BJP ticket in the recently-conducted Punjab polls.
The commission asked the Divisional Commissioner (Ferozepur division), the Deputy Commissioner of Sri Muktsar Sahib), the Inspector General of Police (Faridkot range) and the Senior Superintendent of Police to investigate the case and to submit the report within seven days.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday congratulated former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar for joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that the "right man is in the right party". He said more leaders are likely to desert the sinking ship of the Congress in the coming days.
The Chief Minister also sought a compensation of Rs 500 per quintal for low yield of wheat in the state. He said due to intense heat during this summer season, the wheat grains in Punjab have been damaged, adding it is the high time that farmers must be compensated for this damage by giving compensation.
The top court noted it was urged that simply because it was a spontaneous incident where no weapon was used, but held that this cannot be a ground to inflict minimal and innocuous punishment of fine of Rs 1,000.
At the time of the Partition, Mumtaz Bibi was an infant who was lying on her mother's dead body who was killed by the violent mobs, Dawn news reported. One Muhammad Iqbal and his wife, Allah Rakhi, adopted the infant and raised her as their own daughter, naming her Mumtaz Bibi.
The meeting between the Chief Minister and leaders of 23 farmers' unions under the banner of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha that lasted for over two and half hours here.
