NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court last week issued notices on a habeas corpus petition filed by the father of a Punjab Police constable who has been reported missing since he was allegedly picked up by the Punjab Police nearly 18 months ago.

The notices, issued to the Punjab Government, the Punjab Police Chief, the principal of the Police Training College, Phillaur and commandant of the 80 V Punjab Armed Police battalion, Jalandhar Cantonment, are returnable within two weeks.

The counsel B.L. Wadehra made an oral mention of the petition before a division bench of Justice A.M.Ahmadi and Justice N.P.Singh in the morning and the court agreed to hold preliminary hearing in the evening.

The petitioner, one Ratan Singh, has alleged that his son Rajbir Singh, a constable in the Punjab Armed Police, was picked up from the principal Police Training College, Phillaur, on Feb.24, 1993 and was missing since then.

The petitions have been sent to the Prime Minister, the President, the Punjab Governor, the Union Home Minister and the National Human Rights Commission among others. The commission had told Raten Singh that the matter of his son’s disappearance was being examined.

Wadehra said the petitioner feared for the life of his son.. The counsel claimed that a Superintendent of Police, Jagraon told the panchayat of Rampur Bhootwind village, that the 24, year-old Rajbir Singh could not be produced before the panchayat as he had been beaten up thoroughly. At least half-a-dozen cases accusing Punjab Police of serious human rights violations have come before the Supreme Court in past few months alone.

In one case, the Union Home Ministry has instituted a CBI probe following the Supreme Court order in the Tiljala incident in which the Punjab Police has been accused of launching an illegal counter-militant raid in West Bengal without even informing the West Bengal authorities. A couple was shot dead in a commando type operation in Tiljala, a suburb near Calcutta, last year.

In another case, the Punjab Po lice had last month let off a youth, alleged to have been in the custody of Punjab Police for several days, after the Supreme Court in tervened.

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 9, 1994