New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday expressed displeasure over the issuance of show cause notices by the central government to top police officers of the state for alleged negligence in security during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Punjab. Presenting the central government’s position in a bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana, Solicitor General Tishar Mehta said, “If you want to take disciplinary action against state officials, what is left for this court to do?
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ramna on Friday directed the Center and the state governments not to conduct any inquiry till Monday, January 10, during the hearing of a public interest litigation. Despite this, the central government had issued show cause notices to top police officers of the state for alleged negligence in security.
The Supreme Court had directed the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court to maintain all security records related to the Prime Minister’s visit to Bhattanda on January 5. He also directed the concerned security agencies of the state and central government to assist the Registrar General in gathering evidence. During today’s hearing before the bench, the Advocate General of the state on behalf of the Punjab government had lodged a strong objection to the notice of the Central Government.
Presenting the position of the central government, Solicitor General Mr Mehta told the bench that the negligence in the security of the Prime Minister was the result of the failure of the Punjab government’s ‘secret system’. This issue should be taken seriously. The state government has appealed to the bench to set up an “independent inquiry” into the matter. “We received the compliance report at 10 pm last night,” Justice Ramna said during the hearing.
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