Chandigarh, October 31
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal today requested Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to initiate breach of privilege and contempt of the House proceedings against Mansa SSP Vaibhav Chaudhary for obstructing her from discharging her duties as MP and trivializing her grave concerns over forcible abduction of the body of a drug victim.
The Bathinda MP, who wrote to the Speaker today to formally submit a notice under Rule 223 and seek his consent to raise a question of breach of privilege and contempt of the House, also called for summoning a report from the Punjab government vis a vis the entire issue surrounding the snatching of the body of Daljit Singh from the bereaved family by use of force by the police. She also called for summoning of all records in the case including the relevant FIR, inquest and post-mortem records as well as the whereabouts of Daljit’s father Jarnail Singh who was taken into custody by the Mansa police.
Harsimrat, who also submitted the recorded exchange with SSP Vaibhav Chaudhary on October 29 to the Speaker, said it amply demonstrated the officer’s dereliction of duty as well as efforts to deny her an opportunity to ascertain the facts of the case and pursue the grievance responsibly. She pointed out that during her exchange with the police officer, the latter interrupted her repeatedly and characterized her account as a “wrong narrative” twice besides calling her “misguided” and her concerns as “undue”.
Harsimrat also pointed out that the SSP claimed the police had taken over the body to “maintain law and order” and stated that the family should collect it themselves and that the police had “no role” in this process and that the body was lying at AIIMS, Bathinda. She said the officer also denied knowledge of all photographic evidence on record showing Daljit’s father Jarnail Singh being taken away by the police and advised that a missing person report be filed in the case. She said the SSP also did not have any justification for removing Jarnail’s body forcibly from the family without their permission and without following any laid down procedures.
Urging the Speaker to give his consent to launch breach of privilege action against SSP Vaibhav Chaudhary, the MP also briefed him that the case concerned the death of a marginal farmer – Daljit Singh following drug consumption. She said instead of acting against the drug suppliers a case of murder was registered and when the bereaved family protested against this and sought to take Daljit’s body to a protest site in Mansa where the family of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota holding a ‘dharna’, the police indulged in highhandedness. She said not only was the body of Daljit forcibly snatched from his family, but the latter’s father – Jarnail was also taken away by uniformed police personnel.