Chandigarh, March 5 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court has expressed shock over the massive backlog of criminal investigations in Amritsar, where 1,338 FIRs have remained unresolved for over three years, leaving thousands of accused still at large.
Justice N.S. Shekhawat, calling out the lack of police supervision, directed the Punjab government to submit a list of all IPS officers who have served as Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) and Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) in Amritsar since 2013. “Appropriate disciplinary and legal action may be taken against all of them,” the court stated.
Expanding the scope of inquiry, the court also asked Punjab’s Director General of Police to submit an affidavit detailing all cases across the state where investigations have been pending for more than three years.
‘Thousands of Accused Still on the Run’
The court was stunned to learn that investigations in cases dating back to 2013 remain incomplete, with some police files missing for over a decade. In several cases, medical opinions on victims’ injuries have not been obtained for more than four years.
“In most cases, no efforts have been made to arrest the accused, and thousands of criminals remain on the run in a single district,” the bench observed. It further pointed out that authorities had failed to initiate proceedings to declare absconding accused as proclaimed offenders or seize their properties.
DGP Ordered to Oversee Investigations
Directing Punjab’s DGP to personally oversee the investigations, the court warned against hurried case closures. “The Director General of Police, Punjab, is directed to ensure that investigations are conducted fairly as per the law and not closed in haste,” the order stated.
Justice Shekhawat also ordered the DGP to take disciplinary, legal, or even criminal action against officials responsible for the disappearance of police records or case files. The matter has been listed for the next hearing on March 28.
Key Cases
Forensic Failure: A 2015 NDPS case at Jandiala police station remains stalled as seized samples were never sent for forensic testing.
Missing Evidence: Another NDPS case from 2015 saw crucial evidence vanish from police custody, raising concerns of tampering.
Vanished Case Files: A cheating case from 2015 remains unresolved after the investigating officer misplaced the entire file.
Procedural Lapses: In a 2015 arms-related case, police failed to obtain a mandatory sanction order from the District Magistrate, delaying prosecution for nearly a decade.
Untraced Accused: Thousands of absconding accused remain unarrested, with no action taken to declare them proclaimed offenders or seize their properties.
