Supreme Court Appointed Committee Finds Fault With Punjab Police On PM's Security Breach

The Supreme Court-appointed committee to probe the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab in January has found that the Ferozepur SSP failed to discharge his duty though sufficient force was available.

The Bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli said that it will send the report of the five-member committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Indu Malhotra to the Centre for appropriate action.

"The Ferozepur SSP failed to discharge his duty to maintain law and order. He failed to do this even though sufficient force was available and even though he was informed two hours before that PM will enter that route," the Bench said while reading from the report.

The Bench also said that some measures have been suggested by the Committee to strengthen security.

On January 5, Prime Minister's convoy was stranded on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur after which he returned from Punjab without attending any event, including a rally.

Lawyer's Voice an organisation claiming to espouse public causes and the cause of lawyers in the country had approached the Court seeking to highlight grave issues of national public importance. The Organization had contended before the Apex Court that the security lapse was clearly intentional and raises a serious question as to national security and the role played by the present political dispensation in the State of Punjab.

Further, the Petitioner had argued that as per settled procedure, the program and the security arrangements for the Prime Minister were already shared with the local State Governments prior to the visit and even joint discussions were conducted prior to the visit in order to ensure the high level of security required to be maintained.

The Bench of Chief Justice N. V. Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli had set up a high-level committee headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge and comprising of DGP Chandigarh, IG of National Investigation Agency and Registrar General and ADGP (Security) of Punjab.