HARJIT SINGH BEDI, J. - (1.) THE petitioner is the wife of one Avtar Singh who as per the averments in the petition was taken away by a police party at 6.00 a.m. on 7th March, 1992. On 13th March, 1992, the petitioner received an inland letter purported to have been posted from Kot Shamir, District Bathinda, in which it had been conveyed that Avtar Singh had been brought to the CIA Staff Bathinda. The petitioner has averred that when enquiries were made from Bathinda she was informed verbally by some constables that Avtar Singh had in fact been brought there but after a stay of 4 or 5 days had been shifted elsewhere.
(2.) IT has also been averred by the petitioner that despite strenuous and repeated efforts, no action was taken and the whereabouts of Avtar Singh were still unknown. When the matter was agitated at the highest level and even debated in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on 6th April, 1992, FIR No. 43 Police Station Mohali was recorded on 30th April, 1992. As the petitioner remained unaware of the nature of the investigation being made by the police she has filed the present petition for habeas corpus in this Court. Notice was issued to the respondents and two replies have been filed - one by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Bathinda and the other by Senior Superintendent of Police, Ropar. The stand in both the replies is that Avtar Singh had never been taken into custody by the police and as such the question of their being aware of his whereabouts would not arise. In the course of arguments in Court it transpired that the matter had been examined by the Internal Vigilance Cell of the Punjab Police and a report recorded by Shri Gurmail Singh, S.P. of the concerned cell has been put before me by the Asstt. Advocate General, Punjab. A reading of this report indicates that Avtar Singh was closely related to one Bikar Singh against whom various criminal cases had been registered under the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act and that as the police believed that Bikar Singh was seeking shelter with Avtar Singh, it was not improbable that Avtar Singh too would have been involved. After narrating the nature of the information made available to him, the Enquiry Officer observed that as the local police (that is of Police Station Mohali) was not making a serious investigation swiftly or efficiently, it was proper that investigation should be given to some gazetted officer as there were allegations against some police officials as well. It appears that the investigation was subsequently carried out by Rakesh Kumar Kaushik, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mohali, who filed the matter as untraced. From the consequence of events narrated above as also from the report of the Internal Vigilance Cell of the Punjab Police there appears to be serious doubts about the nature of the investigation that has been made by the Punjab Police in this incident. It is also to be seen that veracity of the petitioner's case was never seriously doubted and the matter was even raised in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and some action was also taken at the instance of the Governor and the Chief Minister, Punjab. I therefore, deem it proper more particularly because the liberty of an individual is at stake and his whereabouts are not known for the last two years that the matter should be investigated by an independent agency. I, therefore, direct that the matter be got investigated from the Central Bureau of Investigation expeditiously. The registry of this Court is directed to send photo copies of the entire record to the Superintendent of Police, C.B.I., Chandigarh, through their standing counsel Sh. R.K. Handa. This petition is disposed of as above. Petition allowed.;