New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that had directed the formation of a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to probe into the alleged abduction of an accused dentist by the Punjab police which prevented him from appearing before a court.
The bench comprising of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Hima Kohli issued notice to the dentist who is accused of scamming people through medical tourism and directed the Chandigarh police to preserve all records including CCTV footage and call details relating to the case.
The court observed that the matter requires a detailed hearing and therefore granted a stay and adjourned the matter for hearing again after weeks. ASG KM Natraj argued before the court that HC did not have the jurisdiction to direct registering of FIRs against the police personnel while hearing the bail application or direct constitution of SIT. "This is totally without any jurisdiction," argued ASG Natraj.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the dentist argued before the court that he has never come across a more gross case of abuse by the police authorities. He also contended that the HC order should not be stayed, as all evidence will disappear with time.
"Three separate complains were filed against him and in two of them he managed to get anticipatory bail. In the third one, he was asked to be present before a magistrate. But on the day of hearing, he was abducted by a team of Chandigarh Crime Branch police, while another team marked their appearance in court," argued Bhushan. Justice Kohli said that they will examine the matter and the court directed for preservation of all records.
A Chandigarh-based dentist has been accused of scamming people with his medical tourism schemes. Several FIRs have been registered against him in the last 5-10 years. In one of the cases, he went to mark his presence before a magistrate court but was allegedly kidnapped by the Chandigarh police which claims to have arrested him for another offense.
After the alleged kidnapping, the HC ordered an investigation into the alleged abduction by the constitution of SIT. Challenging the HC order the Chandigarh administration moved to the top court and sought urgent hearing after which the matter was listed today for hearing.
