More than two decades after veteran journalist Dalbir Singh of Ganna Pind, who was declared a “bad character†and implicated in five murder, attempt to murder and National Security Act cases by police, a Phillaur court has issued “non-bailable†warrants against the police officer who failed to provide details on why cases were registered against him. Dalbir Singh had been exonerated of all charges later, the Indian Express has reported.
Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Harjeet Singh issued the order on July 20, directing the Phillaur police to arrest the officer and produce him before the court on or before July 28. Head Constable Santosh Kumar is posted in the Bathinda Kotwali police station where the cases against Dalbir Singh were registered in the mid-80s. Earlier, too, Kumar was asked to appear in court along with complete records to explain the facts on which the cases were based, but he did not comply.
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On December 4, 2008, octogenarian Dalbir Singh filed a Rs 50 lakh defamation suit against Punjab and the Punjab Police, after his name was cleared in all cases. He sought all records on the basis of which his name was included in the list of ‘bad characters’, he was booked in five cases and his entire property — land, house and vehicle — was attached. His wife, too, was booked by the police in similar cases.
For the last over two decades, Dalbir said in his petition, he had been insulted and harassed by the state and the police, adding that he wanted to know the reason for all this.
Before his name figured in the cases, Dalbir had worked with the United News of India and The Tribune besides other news organisations. Despite orders issued by the Punjab Human Rights Commission in 2000, his name had not been removed from the police’s list of “bad characters†for over seven years.
The police had contended before the commission that he was involved in criminal activities during the days of terrorism in the state, but they later cleared his name in all five cases registered against him. “This is evidence in itself that false cases were slapped against me as my opinions strongly differed from that of the establishment,†said Dalbir.
