The Punjab and Haryana High Court has flagged an interview of mafia boss Lawrence Bishnoi conducted out of police custody in September 2022. The court criticized law enforcement for providing a “studio-like facility” that contributed to the “glorification of crime.”
During a suo moto hearing on prisoners using electronic devices, the court remarked that the Punjab government had failed to comply with an August 2024 directive for disciplinary action against senior police officials who facilitated the interview. Justices Anupinder Singh and Lapita Banerji observed that allowing a criminal to use electronic devices was expected to encourage criminal activities further.
Some felt that including senior police officers would lend credence to the possible inference that they had received illegal benefits at Bishnoi’s hands or those of his associates and ought to be inquired into more deeply.
The court ordered a fresh probe to be headed by Prabodh Kumar, Special Director-General of Police for the Human Rights Commission. It also asked the SIT to inquire into the allegations of criminal conspiracy and file a report within six weeks, notwithstanding objections from Kumar himself.
Bishnoi faces 71 criminal cases registered against him in Punjab, including four under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA, and is a suspect in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala. His interview in March 2023, held in the presence of senior police officials, was labeled a vast “security breach.”
It was also irritated that the inconclusive report regarding the breach took more than eight months to prepare. Recently, seven police personnel were suspended, but it was noted that no accountability was fixed for senior officers.
Copies of Bishnoi’s interview surfaced on the net again. However, a previous order was issued to take those copies off the net as those interviews were posing a demoralizing effect on the youth in Punjab.
