The High Court of Punjab & Haryana has denied interim protection from arrest to Faridkot assistant superintendent (jails) Tarsem Pal. who is accused of taking ₹1.63 lakh as a bribe from the wife of a jail inmate for providing a mobile phone & related accessories to a drugs case convict lodged in the Faridkot Central Jail.The FIR was registered on Oct 2, 2021, after a video allegedly by a jail inmate came to light with allegations against jail staff of providing phones & drugs to the inmates facilitated by jail staff. Following the controversy, the inspector general of police (IGP), Ferozepur was directed to look into the matter & to hold a preliminary enquiry. The probe had recommended the registration of FIR.
The allegations in this case are also against one deputy superintendent (jail) Gurjeet Singh Brar & one warden, Gurtej Singh.The allegations against Pal were of providing one phone, three essential pad phones, & various mobile accessories to one prisoner, Vishal Kumar, for a sum of ₹1. 2 lakh as a bribe taken through Baljit Kaur, wife of the inmate on two occasions in 2019 & 2020. Subsequently, a sum of ₹43,000 was taken through online transfer from them, as per the probe.
Pal had approached the high court in November seeking interim protection from arrest arguing that all the allegations in the video were false & made by a convict who is a habitual offender. It was also argued that allegations pertained to the years 2019 & 2020 & the FIR was registered in 2021.“An analysis of the investigation, which is undergoing prima facie evidence connecting the petitioner, is sufficient to require his custodial interrogation to unearth the entire modus operandi of supplying mobile phones, etc., in the jail. The investigation explicitly states that the petitioner played a critical link in their unlawful monetary dealings,” the bench of justice Anoop Chitkara observed dismissing the plea.The Court took note of the findings of the probe in which it was found that multiple calls were exchanged between Pal & the convict’s wife & for an assistant superintendent it was “unusual” to remain in touch with a jail inmate’s wife
TAGS: Punjab & Haryana High Court Faridkot Jail Official Interim Protection Denied Bribery Allegations Assistant Superintendent Tarsem Pal
