New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court's order which dismissed ex-policeman Bhupinder Singh's, plea seeking a second post-mortem on his son Jaipal Bhullar. Bhullar, a wanted gangster, was shot dead by the police in a gunfight in Kolkata on June 9.
The court directed that the case be taken on merit on Monday and the state of Punjab should make arrangements to preserve Bhullar's body.
The bench comprising of Justice Indira Bannerjee and Justice MR Shah was hearing Singh's plea. Advocate Ishma Randhawa appearing for the petitioner claimed that it was a staged gunbattle and Bhullar was killed in custody. She contended before the court that Singh has seen the body of Bhullar, which she said had gone blue and bones and jaws were broken.
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"The body was kept in a box for 9 days and the father was not allowed to open it," she stated. Randhawa said that Singh was also a policeman and is well aware of 'how the police function'. "I am not seeking CBI investigation, all I am seeking for is a second post mortem report," submitted Randhawa. Court doubted if a second post mortem could yield any results as the body was already cut.
Randhawa said that only injuries need to be ascertained, if something comes out well and even if nothing comes out at least the apprehension of the father will go away. The apex court said that the state of Punjab also needs to be heard in the matter. In its order, it directed the High Court to take up the matter on merits on Monday provided the plea is also filed by then there. Bhullar was accused of killing two assistant sub-inspectors at a grain market in Jagraon in Punjab on May 15.
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The encounter between the Special Task Force of the police and the gangsters broke out in Kolkata's Newtown area on June 9. According to the reports, police received inputs that Jaipal Bhullar and Yashpreet Jassi were hiding in a flat at the Spurji housing colony. Police stated that the gangsters fired at them before the gunfight. A policeman also received a bullet injury on his left shoulder during the operation. The two gangsters were the most wanted in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for over 40 cases related to robbery, murder, extortion and kidnapping, among others.
According to the police, the pair was involved in firearms smuggling in West Bengal worth crores of rupees. Punjab police launched an operation code-named OP Jack to nab Bhullar and his partners for their role in the murder of the policemen.
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