Assault case: Matter in court, Colonel refuses to appear before Punjab SIT

Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath, who has accused 12 Punjab Police personnel of assaulting him and his son over a parking dispute outside a dhaba in Patiala on the intervening night of March 13 and 14, has refused to appear before the Punjab government’s special investigation team (SIT) probing the incident.

Colonel Bath, who is recuperating from an elbow fracture at his house in Patiala after he was discharged from Command Hospital, Chandimandir, has informed the SIT that a petition has already been instituted on his behalf under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, before the Punjab and Haryana high court, wherein he has requested that the probe be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation or another independent agency. “Therefore, the present SIT proceedings should be deferred,” he has urged the court.

“The high court is seized of the matter pertaining to the instant FIR. In view of the matter being sub judice, it is requested to you that the present proceedings may be deferred till the outcome of the petition,” said the application submitted by Colonel Bath before the SIT on Tuesday.

On Monday, the SIT had issued summons, stating that he (Colonel Bath) could record his statement and submit any evidence relating the incident. The notice, issued under Section 179 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), had urged him to cooperate with the investigation.

Punjab Police formed the three-member SIT on March 21, a week after the incident. Additional director general of police (law and order) SPS Parmar heads the panel, while Hoshiarpur senior superintendent of police Sandeep Malik and Mohali rural superintendent of police Manpreet Singh are members. The SIT has been instructed to conduct a daily investigation into the matter.

The SIT had reached Patiala to begin investigation on Tuesday, but Colonel Bath did not appear before it.

The high court on Tuesday directed the Punjab government to file a detailed reply by March 28, asking it to explain the delay in the registration of an FIR in the assault case.

The army also demanded an exemplary punishment for the cops involved in the assault and vowed to take the case the logical conclusion. In a joint media briefing with the Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav, Western Command chief of staff Lieutenant General Mohit Wadhwa said: “We reiterate the need for a fair and honest investigation in a transparent and time-bound manner to punish the guilty and restore faith in the system.”

The Colonel has alleged that the accused, including four inspector-rank officers of the Punjab Police and their armed subordinates, attacked him and his 22-year-old son, Angad, without provocation, snatched his identity card and mobile phone, and threatened him with a “fake encounter” all in public view and under CCTV camera coverage.

“Despite the seriousness of the offence, the local police failed to take action. Distress calls made to senior officials were ignored and, instead of registering an FIR based on the petitioner’s statement, a bogus FIR under ‘affray (fight in public place)’ against unknown persons was filed on the complaint of an unrelated third party,” the petition read.

It also claimed that Bath’s family had to approach senior police officers and the Punjab governor before a “proper subsequent FIR” was filed after eight days.

The family has already expressed lack of faith in the police probe.