1. The case has been taken up for hearing through video conferencing.
2. In the course of hearing on petitions bearing No.CRM-M45242-2018 and CRWP-7882-2021 an e-mail was received on the official e-mail ID of this Court purporting to have been sent by Harvinder Pal Singh, PPS, Investigation Officer, FIR No.11 dated 17.09.2020, PS FSI, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab addressed to Hon'ble the Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh regarding transfer of case bearing No.CRM-25750-2021 in CRM-M-45242-2018 as well as the main case i.e. CRM-M-45242-2018 from this Bench to any other Coordinate Bench on account of the undue hurry being shown by this Bench and the manner in which no opportunity is being given to the State to present its case.
3. This Court had in its order dated 19.08.2021 observed as under:-
“6. It may be mentioned here that in the course of hearing on both the petitions an e-mail was received on the official e-mail ID of this Court purporting to have been sent by Harvinder Pal Singh, PPS, Investigation Officer, FIR No.11 dated 17.09.2020, PS FSI, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab addressed to Hon'ble the Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh regarding transfer of case bearing No.CRM-25750-2021 in CRM-M-45242- 2018 as well as the main case i.e. CRM-M-45242-2018 from this Bench to any other Coordinate Bench on account of the undue hurry being shown by the said Bench and the manner in which no opportunity is being given to the State to present its case. However, there was no communication regarding passing of any order for withdrawal of the case from this Court. No request for recusal was made by learned Counsel for the parties. Even said e-mail was not stated to have been sent on instructions of the respondents No.1 to 4. This Court reserves the right to take appropriate action in respect of the said e-mail casting aspersion regarding hurry in hearing of the matter without realizing that any habeas corpus petition raises serious issue of unlawful detention which has to be heard on urgent basis.”
4. The relevant part of the e-mail sent by Harvinder Pal Singh, PPS Investigating Officer FIR No.11 dated 17.09.2020, Police Station FS 1, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab to Hon'ble the Chief Justice of this Court copy of which was sent on the e-mail ID of this Court reads as under:-
“An application number CRM-25749/2021 was filed by the applicant therein seeking preponement of CRM-M-45242/2018. When the matter was taken up, an adjournment was sought on behalf of the State of Punjab to file a reply to the said application; however the said prayer was declined and the matter was preponed to today itself at 3 PM.
The application asked for details that were sought by the Hon'ble Court earlier vide order dated 16.03.2021. Although the matter was posted for 24.11.2021, and reasonable opportunity should have been granted to the State to assist the Court, the undue hurry that has been shown by the Bench is such that leaves the State of Punjab very apprehensive about the manner in which the matter would be decided. It also exhibits the predetermination of the decision to be rendered by the Hon'ble Bench without actually giving proper opportunity of hearing to the State.
It is well settled that justice should not only be done but should seem to have been done which is not what is happening in the present case and the endeavour to pass some orders in a hurry, despite information of the applicant/petitioner therein having been already formally arrested and being produced before the Jurisdictional Judicial Magistrate, Mohali having been given to the Hon'ble Bench, leaves no scope of doubt about the apparent outcome of the case.
That besides this, the Hon’ble Bench is extending the scope of the case to take up matters not before it. This despite the Hon’ble Chief Justice being the master of the roster is also the settled law.
Therefore it is most respectfully prayed that the matter be withdrawn from the Court of Hon'ble Mr Justice A.K.Tyagi and be listed for hearing before another Coordinate Bench.
For this the applicant remains indebted for ever.”
5. I have gone through the e-mail and also heard learned Counsel for the parties on the question as to whether proceedings for contempt of court are required to be initiated against Harvinder Pal Singh, PPS Investigating Officer FIR No.11 dated 17.09.2020, Police Station FS 1, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab.
6. In Brahma Prakash Sharma Vs. State of U.P. : AIR 1954 SC 10 [LQ/SC/1953/58] Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that the object of contempt proceedings is not to afford protection to Judges personally from imputations to which they may be exposed as individuals; it is intended to be a protection to the public whose interests would be very much affected if by the act or conduct of any party, the authority of the Court is lowered and the sense of confidence which people have in the administration of justice by it is weakened.
7. In Bathina Ramakrishna Reddy Vs. State of Madras : AIR 1952 SC 149 [LQ/SC/1952/7] Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that the power to punish for contempt is to be sparingly used and should be used only for protecting the interest of administration of justice.
8. It may be observed that the above-said e-mail was addressed to Hon'ble the Chief Justice and only a copy thereof was sent on the official e-mail ID of this Court printout of which was taken and placed on record. I am of the considered view that where litigant has a reasonable apprehension of not getting justice from a particular Court, he has the remedy of applying for transfer of the case which remedy cannot be denied to any litigant. In case of filing of any such application in respect of any case pending in this Court, the matter lies within the jurisdiction and in the discretion of Hon'ble the Chief Justice to take a decision on the same and in respect of any case pending before any Subordinate or District Court within the jurisdiction and discretion of the Court of District/Sessions Judge or Chief Judicial Magistrate to whom the application is made. In case any order of withdrawal of the case from this Bench is so made on any such application, there would and could hardly be any objection thereto. Whether any valid ground for transfer is made out is for Hon'ble the Chief Justice to decide and not for the concerned Bench. No doubt, the averments made in the email that “the undue hurry that has been shown by the Bench is such that leaves the State of Punjab very apprehensive about the manner in which the matter would be decided. It also exhibits the predetermination of the decision to be rendered by the Hon'ble Bench without actually giving proper opportunity of hearing to the State” and that “the endeavour to pass some orders in a hurry, despite information of the applicant/petitioner therein having been already formally arrested and being produced before the Jurisdictional Judicial Magistrate, Mohali having been given to the Hon'ble Bench, leaves no scope of doubt about the apparent outcome of the case” were not proper, yet one cannot loose sight of the fact that they were part of the application made to Hon'ble the Chief Justice and were not meant for communication to the public at large or any litigant in particular and were not required to be communicated and ought not to have been communicated to this Bench. It may also be added here that the said communication was not owned by the respondent No.1-State of Punjab and no request for recusal by this Bench was made on its behalf. This Bench continued with the matter as there was no communication regarding withdrawal of the cases from this Bench. The e-mail seems to have been sent by an over energetic police officer but the same could not be a matter of his own choice and he seems to have been ill advised regarding the same by someone from behind the scene. I am not only conscious of the harsh reality that the police officers work under tremendous pressure and even risk their lives in their fight against crime but also aware of the fact that unfortunately one feature of our polity is that the police officers have to tow the line of politicians in power being under double edged sword where they suffer if they do not abide by the dictates and also run the risk of being victimized later on when rival politicians come to power. I have my sympathies for them but hope for the things to be better in the future with the realisation encompassing us all that we owe allegiance to the Constitution of India and Rule of Law and have to uphold the Constitution and the Laws.
9. In the facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the considered view that no reference for initiation of contempt of Court proceedings is required to be made against Harvinder Pal Singh, PPS Investigating Officer FIR No.11 dated 17.09.2020, Police Station FS 1, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab in respect of the averments made in the email. The Majesty of this Court is preserved and upheld not by initiation of contempt proceedings but by the manner in which it protects fundamental rights of the citizens and extends equal protection of laws and equality before law and justice to all who approach this Court and that is with what I would like this matter of initiation of contempt proceedings to end.
10. The IOIN-CRWP-7882-2021 is disposed of accordingly.
