'Glorify crime': High Court raps Punjab govt over Lawrence Bishnoi jail interview
The gangster gave an interview to a private channel in September 2022 while he was lodged in jail.
PTC News Desk: Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday slammed the Punjab government over gangster Lawrence Bishnoi jail interview case. The gangster gave an interview to a private channel in September 2022 while he was lodged in jail.
The court chastised the Punjab government for failing to comply with its August 2024 order, which mandated disciplinary action against senior personnel who aided Bishnoi's interview. The court also cautioned the ruling AAP not to make "scapegoats" of junior officers.
Concerned about a suspected criminal conspiracy between Punjab cops and gangster Bishnoi, the court also ordered a new inquiry to be conducted by a three-member team led by Human Rights Commission chief Prabodh Kumar.
The court said that the interview was "an apparent jail security breach," and that the cops took more than eight months to submit "an inconclusive report."
A bench of Justice Anupinder Singh and Lapita Banerji highlighted that five of the seven suspended cops were of junior rank - only two officers of Deputy Superintendent rank, Gursheer Singh and Sammer Vaneet, were penalised - and that the police officers 'allowed the criminal to use electronic device(s) and provided a studio-like facility for the interview, which tends to glorify crime'.
The court stated that the involvement of top cops indicated "illegal gratification from the criminal..." The court was particularly upset that copies of the interview resurfaced online, despite a December order that they be removed from all social media platforms.
"These interviews are stated to have garnered over 12 million views. It would have an adverse impact on youngsters with impressionable minds. Punjab is a border state and any deterioration in law and order or increase in crime could affect national security."
Copies of the interview reappeared online following the death of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddiqui on October 13.
The judge ruled that Bishnoi - who was "involved in 71 cases in the State of Punjab and convicted in four cases, which includes offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (which is the anti-terror law)" - was "justifying target killings and his criminal activities".
"He has reiterated and justified (his) threat to a film actor," the court stated, referring to death threats made against Bollywood star Salman Khan in recent months.