The Haryana government has moved the Supreme Court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment, which ordered a judicial probe into the death of a 22-year-old youth during the ongoing agitation of farmers at the Punjab-Haryana border.
As per sources, the Special Leave Petition against the High Court order was filed on March 11, but it was still in the defect list, which meant it was yet to be cleared for listing by the Registry.
Protesting farmer Shubhkaran Singh had lost his life on February 21 on the Punjab-Haryana border.
On March 7, the Bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji of the High Court had observed that the investigation cannot be handed over to Punjab or Haryana “for obvious reasons”.
The High Court constituted a three-member committee consisting of a retired High Court judge and two officers of ADGP rank from Haryana and Punjab.
The three-membered committee was headed by Justice Jaishree Thakur, Retired Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court. Members of the committee included Punjab ADGP Parmod Ban and Haryana ADGP Amitabh Singh Dhillon.
The Bench sought details from the Haryana government over the kind of bullets and pellets being used on protestors by the Haryana Police.
The High Court had observed that the death was apparently a case of excess police force. It also pulled up the Punjab Police for delay in lodging an FIR on the death of the protestor, as the incident took place on February 21, while the FIR was lodged on February 28.