CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 16 admitted for hearing the public Interest litigation seeking directions to the Punjab government to Order a judicial or CBI inquiry into the murder of a Ropar advocate, Kulwant Singh, his wife, and two year old son, to end the more than one month long strike by lawyers in Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory.

Observing that the litigation involved “a substantial question of law of the general public “interest and importance,”’ the division bench, comprised of Justice S.S.Sodhi and Justice V.KBali, held that “the matter be placed before the full bench at the earliest” andreferredit to the full bench of the High Court for hearing.

‘The file will be placed before Chief Justice S.D.Aggarwala on Wednesday to seek his orders for the constitution of the full bench, Court officials said,

Meanwhile, the general body of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association is meeting here on Wednesday to decide its further course of action in view of the court’s latest directions in the case.

Earlier, as the case came up for hearing before the bench on the Second consecutive day, Advocate General of Punjab G.K.Chaturath said that the petitioner, Suresh Kumar, as also the Bar Association and the Bar Council of the Punjab: and Haryana High Court, have no locus standi to seek the court’s directions for reopening of the case.

Quoting various Supreme Court judgments, Chaturath said that only the affected party has a right to approach the court for redressed of his grievances. The third party cannot challenge the proceedings initiated under the criminal law merely on the plea of public interest.

Appearing on behalf of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, the former Advocate Gencral of Punjab, G.S.Grewal, argued that the lawyers were justified in their demand in view of the feeling that they will not be able to perform their duties due to the fear of elimination at the hands of the police.

“There has been no institution in both Punjab and Haryana where the acts committed by the police can be reported,” he said.

Article extracted from this publication >>  March 19, 1993