High Court stays transfer of ED officer who grilled Majithia

Chandigarh, January 21

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the implementation of transfer orders of the Enforcement Directorate officer, who had questioned Punjab minister Bikram Majithia in the drugs case. A Division Bench of the High Court also called for the record pertaining to the officer’s transfer.

The Bench of Justice Satish Kumar Mittal and Justice Deepak Sibal fixed February 2 as the next date of hearing. The plea against the transfer has been filed by advocate Navkiran Singh in the drugs case pending adjudication before the High Court. Navkiran Singh, on behalf of the Lawyers for Human Rights International, contended that the transfer at this juncture would hamper investigations into the Rs 6000-crore money-laundering international drug racket. The probe, he said, was at the final stage.

He said ED official Niranjan Singh’s transfer was neither in public interest, nor in the interest of justice. The case was being supervised by the High Court for more than a year and status reports were being filed by state and central agencies.The transfer of an investigating officer, playing an important role in the investigation, was not beyond suspicion.

“In situations where the investigating officers of two important cases, the coal scam and 2G scam, were transferred and the Supreme Court found the same not to be in the interest of justice, it stayed the transfer orders and ordered that the particular investigating officers would remain as investigating officer till the completion of the trial.

“In the present case, since the Enforcement Directorate has interrogated more than 50 important witnesses and the investigation is at fag-end, changing the investigating officer would be sending the investigation directionless…,” he claimed. The father of alleged kingpin in the drugs case Jagdish Singh Bhola has also moved the High Court demanding a probe into the transfer.

What the petitioner said

• Lawyers for Human Rights International said ED officer Niranjan Singh’s transfer was neither in public interest, nor in the interest of justice
• They said the case was being supervised by the High Court for more than a year and status reports were being filed by state and central agencies