The trend of treason cases changing the government in the country is regrettable: Supreme Court

(PTI) New Delhi, Dt

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted immunity to the suspended director of the Chhattisgarh Police Academy, saying the trend of changing government treason cases in the country is inconvenient. The Chhattisgarh government has filed two criminal cases against him for treason and disproportionate assets. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court N.V. Raman said the current political situation in the country is deplorable.

Gurjinderpal Singh, a 19th batch IPS officer serving as IG of Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur under the BJP regime, had earlier been charged with disproportionate assets. The state's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Economic Crimes Branch (EOW) raided the premises and filed the case. He was later charged with treason for allegedly conspiring against the government and promoting enemies.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice NV Raman, after hearing the case, expressed displeasure over the trend of treason cases being filed in the country. On behalf of IPS officer Gurjinderpal Singh, senior counsel F. S. Nariman said the IPS officer has served as Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and was serving as the director of the state police academy. The state government has filed a case against him under the treason clause.

A bench comprising Justice Suryakant also directed the Congress-ruled state government not to arrest Singh for four weeks. "There is a very unfortunate trend going on in the country right now and the police department is also responsible for it," the bench said. Police officials seem to favor the party that rules the state. Then action is taken against the police officers who change the government. This should stop.

Along with this, the Supreme Court had sent notices to the state government on two separate petitions of the IPS officer. Senior counsel Nariman said his custodial interrogation was meaningless as the chargesheet had been filed against Singh. He added that Singh was once called by the current chief minister and asked to take action against the former chief minister.