Crimes Like Extortion Increased After Airing Of Lawrence Bishnoi Jail Interview, High Court Asks Punjab DGP About Preventive Measures

Stating that there appears to be an increase in extortion calls ever since gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's interview from confines of a prison in Punjab was aired in public, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the State's DGP to set out the preventive steps initiated to curb such criminal activities.A division bench of Justices Anupinder Singh Grewal and Deepak Manchanda noted,“Affidavit had been filed by the Director General of Police and it had indicated an increase in crime after the telecast of the interview. There appears to be further increase in crime in the recent past, especially relating to extortions, threatening/ransom calls, targeted killings etc. Therefore, we direct the Director General of Police, Punjab to file an affidavit with regard to the number and details of registration of the criminal cases relating to extortion, threatening calls, calls for ransom, target killings in the State of Punjab month wise w.e.f. 01.01.2024 till 15.07.2025.”The Court added that the affidavit shall also set out the steps being taken by the State of Punjab to prevent these crimes.The bench also asked the State to comply with the directions issued by a single judge to curb 'gangster culture'.The Court was hearing its suo moto case against the use of mobile phones in the prisons. The SIT constituted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court revealed in August 2024 that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's first interview "glorifying crime and criminals" was conducted when he was in CIA premises in Punjab's Kharar and the second interview was in a Jaipur jail.The Court had then directed Punjab's DGP to file an affidavit "setting out the number and details of registration of criminal cases especially those relating to extortion/threatening calls, calls for ransom, abduction and intimidation of witnesses in the State of Punjab w.e.f. March, 2023 uptil December, 2023 when the interviews were directed to be removed from the website/channel/URL and 09 months prior to the broadcast of the interview."Examine Role Of Senior Police OfficialsThe Court reiterated that the SIT shall also examine the role of senior officers and ensure that lower level officials are not made scapegoat.“It is difficult to believe that the interview could have taken place without involvement of senior officers especially when the place of interview could be established only after the intervention of this Court,” the bench added.Utilise VC Facility For InmatesDuring the hearing the Principal Secretary, Jails, Punjab submitted that the video conferencing facility (about 159) is in place in all the jails but it is not being adequately utilised for appearance of high risk prisoners before the trial Courts. Hence it directed that the trial Courts within Punjab to use this facility as much as possible especially in the case of high risk prisoners as it not only spares the police personnel who are to be put on security duty but save sizeable public expenditure.The Amicus Curiae informed that proper infrastructure has not been provided to the SIT Head which is evident from the interruptions in the video proceedings in Court for want of proper and adequate Wi-Fi facility in the office.The Advocate General, Punjab then submitted that adequate facilities and infrastructure would be ensured forthwith.The matter is listed on August 18, for further consideration.Mr. M.S. Bedi, Advocate General, Punjab withMr. Aftab Singh Khara, Senior DAG, Punjab &Mr. Adeshwar Singh Pannu, AAG, Punjab.Mr. Anant Kataria, DAG, Haryana.Mr. Manish Bansal, Public Prosecutor, UT, Chandigarh andMr.Rajiv Vij, Addl. PP, UT, Chandigarh.Mr. Dheeraj Jain, Standing counsel for UOI.Ms. Tanu Bedi, Advocate (amicus curiae) assisted byMr. Pushp Jain, AdvocateMr. Gourave Bhayyia Gilhotra, Advocate andMr. Hitesh Verma, Advocatefor the applicant in CM-85-CWPIL-2023.Mr. Arun Gosain, Advocate andMs. Swati Arora, Advocate (Senior Govt. counsel) for UOI in CWP-24232-2011.Ms. Bhawna Garg, Principal Secretary, Jails, PunjabMr. Sanjay Kaushal, Senior Advocate with Mr. Ankit Rana, Advocate for the applicant.Title: COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION V/S STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERSClick here to read/download the order

Crimes Like Extortion Increased After Airing Of Lawrence Bishnoi Jail Interview, High Court Asks Punjab DGP About Preventive Measures

Aiman J. Chishti

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