CHANDIGARH, Nov. 11 (HTC) Leaders of Punjab Sangharsh Morcha and Punjabi Lawyers Association has lodged a strong protest against the ban imposed by Chandigarh administration a holding private trials into the alleged police excesses in Punjab.
Morcha leaders including Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, former Minister Hans Raj Sharma, former Congress leader Gurbir Singh and former Advocate General G. S, Grewal said they the present Governor Virendra Verma, “has surpassed even the British in banning a pyblec trial by a group of prominent lawyers. During the freedom struggle Congress and other political leaders that included Mahatma Gandhi bad consulted private commissions Boas to probe into the British excesses son people. After freedom struggle, ‘there were committees led by Justice “V. M, Tarkunde and Justice H. R. Khanna who investigated into murder of Naxalites and Sikhs.
These leaders alleged at a Press conference that initially the hall where they bad decided to hold the meeting was declared out of bound. Later a meeting inside a house was banned. Now the administration has put a blanket ban. “We have decided to pro test very strongly, challenge in a court ‘of law and also meet the President to ‘geek justice. After all what we were going to do is not illegal. We would “have investigated the cases, recorded evidence and submitted the reports to the Government and the Press. We, have no powers to punish anyone found guilty, but only to build moral pressure on the brutal State power to hold its hand”, Mr Grewal sad, Mr Sharma, a Congress-S leader said, “this is atrocious, it means that the State admits its crime”.*
Mr Mann said, “public could not get legal redressed because of contempt of the courts and public opinion by the police, armed with the most draconian laws”. “There was no administrative, relief from the coterie of policemen and civil servants whose actions had, alienated the public in the first instance’ It became apparent that unless the corrupt and brutal State machinery was replaced there could be no relief for the people of Punjab”, Mr Mann said.
“Meanwhile, cases of false encounters, torture,’ disappearance, rape, kidnapping, violence and: loot by police and so on were multiplying. Therefore as president of the Akali Dal, the party with massive electoral ‘mandate to represent Punjab, the responsibility for facing the situation came to my shoulders”, Mr Mann added.
He said, “the purpose of the com- mission was explained in a letter to the Governor by the Punjabi Lawyers Association, Instead of appreciating the gesture of the ‘association, the veteran Gandhian banned the public hearings by an order more sweeping than any action on this issue by the – British. He has also made the Chandigarh administration a party to the destruction of freedom.
Mock trials
What prompted the Chandigarh Administration to prohibit the Pun- jab Sangharth Morcha from organizing mock trials of cases of alleged police excesses here on Sunday last?
Though the answer could be given by the Administration alone, it is speculated that the Punjab Government had directed the U.T, Administration to do so.
The reasons being given out for the direction include fear of identification of police officers involved in the cases to be taken up for mock trials. It is argued that the moment these police officers are identified, they ‘would become targets of terrorist attacks.
On the other hand, legal luminaries hold that the administration had no legal right to prevent the gathering of lawyers and others at Lajpat Rai- Bhavan, a covered public place, Had it been in open, the administration could have promulgated prohibitory orders to prevent such an assembly,
How can the administration intervene if such trials are held at the residence of one activist of the Punjab Sangharsh Morcha or the other and the proceedings are later released to the Press? Even newsmen can be called during the trials
The police officials in Punjab are virtually unhappy with the media, in ‘general, and those newspapers which ‘carry reports of police excesses or advertisements of bhog ceremonies of ‘alain terrorists. Even the Home Department has threatened to initiate legal action against newspapers carrying such advertisements or publishing ‘statements of militants or underground terrorists.
