Punjab and Haryana High Court attaches salary of police over failure to arrest proclaimed offender

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently ordered the attachment of salaries of a Station House Officer (SHO) and a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of a police station for their inability to track down and arrest a proclaimed offender..Justice Harpreet Singh Brar observed that despite the Court issuing repeated orders, no significant effort had been made to comply with them, which demonstrated a glaring lack of competence on the part of the police.The judge opined that the failure of the police to fulfill its responsibilities has left the Court with no choice but to order the attachment of their salaries.“This approach of the Punjab Police reflects sheer incompetence on its part. In spite of repeated orders passed by this Court, no tangible effort has been made to comply with the same. This conspicuous failure to perform their duty leaves this Court with no other option but to attach the salaries of the Station House Officer heading the Police Station where the FIR (supra) was registered as well as his supervisory officer i.e. Deputy Superintendent of Police," the Court said..The judge also ordered the Deputy Inspector General and Senior Superintendent of Police (Ferozepur Range) to appear in court personally during the next hearing of the matter to explain the noticed lapses. .The order was passed on two petitions, including one by a woman (petitioner) who sought protection citing the failure of the Punjab police in apprehending a man she had accused of sexual assault and criminal intimidation. Despite multiple Court directives, the dismissal of the accused’s anticipatory bail plea by the Supreme Court in February 2021, and a March 2023 declaration that he is a proclaimed offender, the accused remained at large.He even managed to travel abroad, which the petitioner argued was facilitated by the negligence of local police authorities. She claimed that the police were shielding the accused, as evidenced by delayed and half-hearted enforcement of Section 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which mandates the attachment of a proclaimed offender’s properties..In its December 9 order, the Court lambasted the police for their "sheer incompetence", stating that senior police officials also appeared to be shielding the accused while scapegoating junior officers."Upon scrutinizing the affidavit dated 08.12.2024, this Court has arrived at the conclusion that the two Inspectors, who occupy lower rung of the state police hierarchy, have been made scapegoats in the present case, in order to create a smokescreen," it said. All measures take so far to apprehend the accused appeared to be an 'eyewash', the Court added. .The matter is listed for hearing next on December 16, 2024..Senior Advocate Sunil Chadha, and Advocates Paras and Siddharth Sanwaria appeared for a petitioner. Advocates Anmol and Arshdeep Randhawa appeared for another petitioner. Additional advocate general Deepender Singh represented the State of Punjab..[Read order]