Mafia boss Lawrence Bishnoi's interview in September 2022 - to a private channel while, supposedly, incarcerated in jail - was red-flagged, again, by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday.
The court today reprimanded the Punjab government for failing to follow its August 2024 order, which directed disciplinary action against senior officers who facilitated Bishnoi's interview.
The court had also warned the ruling AAP against making "scapegoats" of junior officers.
Expressing concern over a possible criminal conspiracy between Punjab cops - seven were finally suspended last week - and the gangster Bishnoi, the court also ordered a fresh investigation, to be conducted by a three-member team led by Human Rights Commission chief Prabodh Kumar.
The interview, the court said, was "an apparent jail security breach" and the extended time taken for the cops to submit "an inconclusive report" - over eight months - was also flagged.
A bench of Justice Anupinder Singh and Lapita Banerji pointed out five of the seven suspended officers were of a junior rank - only two officers of Deputy Superintendent-rank, Gursheer Singh and Sammer Vaneet were penalised, and noted the cops "allowed the criminal to use electronic device(s) and provided a studio-like facility for the interview, which tends to glorify crime..."
Involvement of senior cops suggests "illegal gratification from the criminal..." the court said.
The court was also irked by copies of the interview resurfacing online despite a December order that it be removed from all social media platforms.
"These interviews are stated to have garnered over 12 million views. It would have an adverse impact upon youngsters with impressionable minds. Punjab is a border state and any deterioration in law and order or increase in crime could affect national security," the court said.
Copies of the interview resurfaced online after the October 13 murder of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddiqui, who was a member of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's NCP faction.
The court noted that in the interview Bishnoi - "involved in 71 cases in the State of Punjab and convicted in four cases, which includes offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (which is the anti-terror law)" - was "justifying target killings and his criminal activities".
"He has reiterated and justified (his) threat to a film actor," the court noted, referring to death threats to Bollywood star Salman Khan that have made headlines over the past months.
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