NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, on Sept.20, directed Delhi police and the Punjab police to produce by Tuesday evening 23yearold advocate Jaspreet Gogia, daughter of Deputy Commissioner Gurmal Singh Bains of Hoshiarpur, Punjab, and her advocate husband, 29yearold Vipin Gogia.
Both had moved the Supreme Court last week, after their marriage in Jalandhar, for protection and disappeared from Delhi on Sept.19, while on their way to meet their advocate, Sushil Kumar Jain.
Jaspreet rang up Jain’s associate, Pawan Garg, to tell that they were in serious trouble and were being allowed by a Gypsy. When Garg asked from where she was calling, he just heard the phone being banged down. Jain contacted a Registrar General Siddiqui, who on Sunday night, on instruction from the Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah, informed the Delhi Police.
On Monday, in the personal presence of Commissioner of Police M.B.Kaushal, the Chief Justice, Justices S. Mohan and A.S. Anand expressed their severe displeasure at the lack of action by the Delhi police and the non-fulfillment of the assurance given to the court last week by the Punjab Government.
The count, in its order said: “We may strike a note of caution that if Punjab and Delhi do not take action, then we propose to take further drastic measures and the authorities may be coming in for further action at the hands of the court.”
Expressing their belief that there: was connivance between Delhi police and Punjab police, the court orally told them that if the couple was not produced by Tuesday then “we may even say that your unworthy of holding high offices.”
In a court, ringed by armed policemen because of the Commissioner of Police had come in response to summons from the judges, the former order noted that the fact that the mother of the girl was a high official in Hoshiarpur and that the police in the district of Hoshiarpur was acting in reprisal against the family of the boy, Vipin Gogia.
Last week, the Punjab Government counsel R.S.Sun had assured the apex court of action at the highest level to set things right when faced with the petition of the couple, slaying that they were bearing imminent threat to their lives and the virtual house arrest of some of their family members, old and young.
Describing the events that have unfolded since then as extremely shocking and disturbing, the Chief Justice told Suri, “Tell your Director General of Police and Chief Secretary that the Chief Justice is directly concerned. Later, he said, “Tell your Chief Minister directly that if this is the state of affairs in his state, then this is very bad.”
Article extracted from this publication >> September 24, 1993
