The court asked Punjab if the investigation should be assigned to the Chandigarh DGP, the CBI, or an SIT.

Acting on a petition filed by Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath seeking the transfer of the assault case investigation to the CBI or an independent agency, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed that the probe be handed over to the Chandigarh Police. 

Justice Harpreet Singh Brar, while passing the order, explicitly stated in open court that no officer from the Punjab Police cadre would be involved in the investigation.

At the outset, the court asked the State of Punjab whether it preferred a consent-based order or a decision on merit. The Bench also sought clarification on whether the state was agreeable to transferring the investigation to the Chandigarh Police before issuing the final order. 

Punjab was represented in court by senior advocate Randeep Singh Rai. The case was initially heard by Justice Sandeep Moudgil’s Bench, which had raised concerns over the non-arrest of the accused police officers despite an attempt to murder case being registered against them.

Justice Moudgil’s Bench had further questioned the state on whether merely suspending the accused police officials and transferring four inspector-rank officers outside Patiala’s jurisdiction was an adequate response. 

The court had remarked that suspension of police personnel was an administrative action under service rules but did not constitute concrete action after the FIR’s registration. It also pointed out that even the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had failed to take substantial steps in the matter.

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Colonel Bath, who serves at a sensitive post under the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, alleged in his petition that he and his son were brutally assaulted by Punjab Police officers on the night of March 13-14 in Patiala. 

He accused four inspector-rank officers and their armed subordinates of attacking them without provocation, forcibly taking his official ID card and mobile phone, and threatening them with false encounter cases. He stated that the entire incident occurred in public view and was captured on CCTV.

The petition further claimed that the local police deliberately ignored the seriousness of the offence and failed to act on his complaint. Multiple distress calls to senior officials were allegedly disregarded, and instead of registering an FIR based on his statement, the police initially lodged a false FIR under ‘affray’ against unknown persons based on a third-party complaint. 

It was only after his family approached senior police officials and even the Governor of Punjab that a proper FIR was registered—eight days after the incident.

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