Supreme Court appoints former judge Indu Malhotra as chairman of Modi’s ‘security lapse’ inquiry committee

New Delhi. The Supreme Court on Wednesday constituted a committee headed by former apex court judge Indu Malhotra to probe into the alleged security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab. Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, on Monday, while hearing a plea by NGO ‘Lawyers Voice’, said that it wants to conduct a high-level inquiry headed by a former high court judge.

The bench said that the sensitive matter relating to the security lapse of the Prime Minister cannot be left for unilateral investigation by the Central or State Governments. A person trained in the judicial field should investigate the matter. The apex court bench, headed by Justice Malhotra, had as members the DG of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or his designated authority, the DGP of the National Capital Territory of Chandigarh, the DGP of Punjab, besides the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. appointed to The Chief Justice said that we appoint a committee under the chairmanship of Justice Indu Malhotra, DG NIA, DG Security, Punjab and Registrar General, Punjab and Haryana High Court.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Ramana requested the Justice Malhotra committee to submit its inquiry report at the earliest. The top court has ordered the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to produce all the details and documents gathered on the orders of the Supreme Court before the Inquiry Committee. The court made it clear that the stay on the proceedings of the inquiry committees constituted by the Central and Punjab governments would continue.

On Monday, while hearing a petition by NGO ‘Lawyers Voice’, it was decided to constitute a high-level inquiry committee headed by a former judge of the apex court. The bench took this decision after hearing the arguments of the petitioner, the central government and the Punjab government. The plea has sought an “efficient and professional” probe into the entire episode to avoid recurrence of the prime minister’s ‘security lapse’ in future. The petition had urged the apex court to direct the Bathinda district judge to take possession of the entire record related to the security breach. (talk)