Prepare report on plaint of NCP member: PSHRC to principal secy

LUDHIANA: The Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has asked the principal secretary, home department, Punjab, inspector general of police (litigation), and the Ludhiana SSP, to prepare a report and submit it before January 30, 2004, on the complaint of Dr Balwant Singh, a member of the economic cell of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
In the complaint, he had alleged that an FIR had been registered against him on a false complaint lodged by Gopal Dass, comptroller, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana.The FIR was registered against Dr Balwant Singh at the Sarabha Nagar police station on June 9 this year on the directions of the then Ludhiana SSP H S Sidhu.
Gopal Dass had alleged that Dr Balwant Singh had used derogatory racist expletives against him in front of the main administrative block of PAU during lunch time on June 2. Dass had named four eyewitnesses—Gurbachan Singh, Piara Singh, J S Dhiman, and Diwan Chand— to support his allegation.
Subsequently, Dr Singh was arrested on July 12 and sent in judicial custody till July 25; later, he was released on bail.
In his complaint to the PSHRC, Dr Singh had alleged that on the verbal orders of PAU vice-chancellor Dr K S Aulakh, on June 2, he was not allowed to enter the university campus, where he had gone to collect his pension from the bank and get a check-up of his ailing wife done by the university hospital doctors.
Having no option left, he said, he returned home and later attended a meeting of the entrepreneur cell of the NCP from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm.
Dr Singh alleged that since he was not allowed to enter the university, there was no question of his meeting Gopal Dass and hurling abuses on him.
He alleged that Dass had concocted a story to frame him at Dr Aulakh''s behest, as he had complained to the Punjab chief minister that Dass had been appointed comptroller in violation of the statutes of the university.
He had also alleged that the four "tutored" witnesses, all employees of PAU, had joined Dass in exchange of undue favours.
Dr Singh had also submitted to the commission that the police had arrested him without conducting even a preliminary inquiry. He added that neither he, nor other functionaries of the NCP with whom he had attended the meeting on the said date had been questioned by the police. He had alleged that he had been subjected to torture and humiliation.
In his order, justice R L Anand, member of the PSHRC, had observed that Dr Singh''s case comes under human rights violation.