Ferozepur SSP failed to discharge his duty to maintain law and order: CJI
25 Aug 2022 13:00:02
New Delhi, Aug 25: Hearing a plea related to security lapses during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Punjab visit in January, the Supreme Court Thursday observed that the Ferozepur SSP “failed to discharge his duty” despite receiving information in advance that the Prime Minister will use the route.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, after perusing the report submitted by Justice (retired) Indu Malhotra, who was appointed to probe the alleged security breach, said: “Ferozepur SSP failed to discharge his duty to maintain law and order. He failed to do this even though the sufficient force was available and even though he was informed two hours before that PM Modi will use that route.”
In January, the Prime Minister’s cavalcade was stranded on a flyover in Punjab’s Ferozepur district for over 15 minutes due to a protest by farmers on Wednesday (January 5). The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from the Punjab government on what it called “a major lapse in the security of the PM”. On January 12, the Supreme Court appointed a committee under its former judge, Justice Indu Malhotra, to probe the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab.
The then Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had said that the PM had a sudden change of plan, while the Home Ministry claimed the PM’s program had been communicated in advance.