The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday granted six weeks time to the judicial probe committee to submit its report on the death of a protesting farmer, Shubhkaran Singh.
Taking cognizance of the communication sent by the probe committee, Acting Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji granted six weeks time to investigate the death of Shubhkaran Singh, the young farmer. The High Court asked both the states to cooperate with the committee.
The young farmer lost his life on February 21 while protesting, inter-alia, for the demand of a law guaranteeing Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops on the Punjab-Haryana border. It is alleged that he died after being hit by a bullet fired by the Haryana police.
Earlier on March 7, the High Court said that the investigation into death of Singh, cannot be handed over to Punjab or Haryana for obvious reasons as both the states have several things to cover up, and formed a three-member committee consisting of a retired High Court judge Justice Jaishree Thakur and two officers of ADGP rank from Haryana and Punjab.
The aforesaid order was challenged before the Supreme Court by the Haryana Government. Declining to stay the High Court order, the apex court verbally observed that a judicial probe would ensure a fair investigation of the allegations against the Haryana police.
A bench led by Justice Surya Kant told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the High Court in its wisdom has thought of appointing a former judge and that they should not interfere with it. The top court added that the right to fair investigation also needs to be protected.
The High Court had earlier directed the committee to firstly give a report as to whether which of the police authorities will have jurisdiction to investigate in the death of the farmer since the place of occurrence and the death has to be confirmed as one state is shirking its responsibilities whereas the other is yearning to get its hands on the investigation.
The court added that the cause of death of Subhkaran and from which type of weapon the bullet/pellet emanated would also be within the domain of the Committee. It noted that the Committee shall also examine the issue whether the force which was used on the dates mentioned above was commensurate with the situation and give its report.
The matter is postponed to the last week of May for further consideration.