LAWYERS VOICE versus THE STATE OF PUNJAB & OTHERS

Citation: [2022] 2 S.C.R. 673 · Decided: 12-01-2022 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: N.V. RAMANA, SURYA KANT, HIMA KOHLI · Disposal: Directions issued

Judgment (excerpt)

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LAWYERS VOICE
v.
THE STATE OF PUNJAB & OTHERS
(Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13 of 2022)
JANUARY 12, 2022
[N. V RAMANA, CJI, SURYA KANT AND
HIMA KOHLI, JJ.]
Directions – Breach of Security of the Prime Minister Convoy
during his visit to Firozpur, Punjab – Enquiry committee appointed
to submit a comprehensive report of the incident for the
consideration of Supreme Court.
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Civil) No.
13 of 2022.
(UNDER ARTICLE 32 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA)
D. S. Patwalia, AG, Tushar Mehta, SG, K. M. Nataraj, ASG, Kanan
Malik, AAG, Sehaj Bir Singh, DAG, Maninder Singh, Prabhas Bajaj,
Pranav Saigal, Ms. Ashita Chawala, Sandeep Singh, Mrs. Jaspreet Gogia,
Rajat Nair, Kanu Agrawal, Arvind Kumar Sharma, S. Charanjeet Singh
Chanderpal, Anil Kumar, Vipin Kumar Saxena, Amit, Mukesh Kumar
Singh, Maneesh Saxena for M/s Mukesh Kr. Singh & Co., Advs. for the
appearing parties.
The following Order of the Court was passed:
ORDER
1. The present Writ Petition arises out of the incident dated
5.01.2022 wherein on a visit to Hussainiwala, District Firozpur, State of
Punjab the convoy of the Prime Minister was stuck on a flyover for
around 20 minutes.
2. Petitioner, an NGO which purports to work for advocates across
the country and takes up causes that are in public interest, therefore,
seeks that this Court take cognizance of the above incident and has
prayed for the following directions:
“(a) Take cognizance of the serious and deliberate lapse on
part of the Respondent Nos. 1,2 ad 3 concerning the security
and the movement of the Prime Minister of the country; and
[2022] 2 S.C.R. 673
673
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2022] 2 S.C.R.
(b) Direct the learned District Judge, Bhatinda, to collect all
official documents and materials from all possible sources
pertaining to the movements and deployment of Punjab Police
in connection with the visit at the earliest and produce the
same before this Hon’ble Court; and
(c) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ, order or
direction fixing responsibility of the Respondent No. 2 and
Respondent No. 3 and place them under suspension and
further direct the Respondent No. 4 to initiate departmental
action against the same;
(d) Please to issue any other writ or directions(s) or orders(s)
as the Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in view of the
facts and circumstances of the case and in the interest of
justice.”
3. Petitioner contends that the incident constitutes a very grave
security breach that could have had significant repercussions as it impacts
the safety of the Hon’ble Prime Minister.
4. Given the seriousness of the subject matter, and the need to
ensure a thorough investigation into the alleged lapses by the security
apparatus, we took up the matter on the 07th January, 2022 when we
heard Mr. Maninder Singh, Senior Advocate on behalf of the petitioner
and Mr. Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General on behalf of Union of
India and Mr. D.S. Patwalia, learned Advocate General for the State of
Punjab. This Court, thus, passed the following order:
“1. Heard learned senior counsel Mr. Maninder Singh on
behalf of the Petitioner, the learned Solicitor General, Mr.
Tushar Mehta, and the learned Advocate General for the State
of Punjab, Mr. D.S. Patwalia.
2. Taking into consideration the arguments advanced by the
parties with respect to the issues relating to the security of
WP(C)No.13/2022 the Hon’ble Prime Minister and other
related issues raised by them, we deem it appropriate for the
time being to direct the Registrar General, Punjab and
Haryana High Court to secure and preserve the records
relating to the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s scheduled tour of
Punjab on 05th January 2022.
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3. We direct the Director General of Police, Union Territory
of Chandigarh and an officer of the National Investigation
Agency, not below the rank of Inspector General, to be
nominated by the Director General, National Investigation
Agency to assist the Registrar General, Punjab and Haryana
High Court to forthwith secure and seize the records from the
State police as well as Central agencies.
4. We further direct the State Government of Punjab, including
the police authorities, the Special Protection Group and any
other Central/State agencies to cooperate and to provide
necessary assistance in securing and seizing the records.
5. We direct the Registrar General, Punjab and Haryana High
Court to keep the records in his safe custody for the time
bei

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