The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday dismissed the petition filed against NCB, the BSF Director Rakesh Asthana and former Chandigarh DGP Tajinder Luthra in the case for filing a fake FIR to force the petitioner to withdraw the complaint.
The Court said Asthana was never appointed in Chandigarh and if Luthra was transferred from Chandigarh in 2018, how could he influence the investigation of Chandigarh Police. The High Court further said that thus taking the names of high officials only seems to be a means of creating pressure.
Petitioner dentist Mohit Dhawan submitted that the American citizen of Indian-origin Gertrude D’Souza contacted the petitioner for treatment through e-mail and the surgery was done on August 12, 2017. After the surgery, she did not pay the fees and threatened him that she was close to Rakesh Asthana and asking for money would cost him his life.
Later, the woman returned to the United States after which the Chandigarh Police repeatedly threatened the petitioner for the return of paid fee. The petitioner alleged that once the police took him to the DGP’s office and demanded Rs 50 lakh for the settlement of dispute in the presence of Tajinder Luthra.
The petitioner claimed that on March 19, 2018, a false case of cheating was registered against him on the basis of fake documents. When the petitioner lodged complaint, the matter was sent to the administrator after the police did not produce the documents.
The petitioner said that when all efforts failed, he complained to the Prime Minister’s Office, Central Vigilance Commission and the CBI. On December 10, 2019, the CBI gave an inquiry to CVC and the PMO ordered the administration to act on the complaint on August 13, 2020. Police and administrative officials started pressuring the petitioners to save these big officers and based on a complaint of September 25, 2018, an FIR was registered against the Petitioner on September 21, 2020, ignoring the facts.
The petitioner demanded that the matter be investigated by any agency other than the Chandigarh or the Punjab Police since the high-profile people are named in the case. Along with this, in case of registration of a case in Chandigarh, seven days notice should be given before arrest.
In this case, petitioner has claimed that Rakesh Asthana was associated with D’Souza on social media and he had close relations. On this, the High Court said that being friends on social media does not mean that the officer will benefit her by misusing his position in an illegal act or criminal case.