Hearing the plea for anticipatory bail of a former LAO (land acquisition officer) in a cheating and corruption case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought a list of cases from SP Panchkula registered in different police stations under him, where the investigation of criminal cases is pending for the last more than three years.
The directions have been issued by the bench of Justice NS Shekhawat, while hearing the anticipatory bail plea of Mohinder Singh Sangwan, an ex-LAO, in the Haryana government.
Sangwan has been booked in an FIR registered in July 2020, under sections of cheating, and corruption Act. He has argued in his plea that he has been falsely implicated.
On the latest hearing of the plea, a bench of justice NS Shekhawat ordered: “The SP shall submit the complete details of all such cases: number of accused who are yet to be arrested and reason for delay in conducting the investigation in such cases. He shall also indicate as to whether the proclaimed offender proceedings have been initiated against such accused, who have not been arrested for a sufficiently long time and whether any steps have been taken to attach their properties”.
Justice Shekhawat also directed the SP to explain the reasons for delay in arresting the accused in the present case and shall also explain the evidence, which has been collected by the investigating agency against Sangwan after the inordinate delay of four years.
The notice was issued to the Haryana government for a reply on December 3. Sheenu Sura, Deputy Advocate General, Haryana, accepted notice on behalf of the government and asked for time to file a status report in the present case.
