- The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Punjab Government to give clarification on the leakage of a list of persons whose security was withdrawn, one of them being the late Punjabi singer, Sidhu Moosewala.
- The State Government will have to give its response by today.
- Justice Raj Mohan Singh while discussing the matter said that the relevant information as to whether the order has become public on account of any RTI information or leakage or in collusion of someone having access to the order in question be also brought on record by June 2.
- The Court made this direction while deciding on a plea filed by the former Deputy Chief Minister of State, Om Prakash Soni.
- This plea was filed to challenge the decategorization of his security by the Punjab Government.
- He claimed that this decategorization was arbitrary and not based on any reliable objective data.
- The plea also mentioned that the decategorization was done without informing him about the same or issuing any show-cause notice.
- On May 5, 2022, the Punjab Government reduced, and in some cases withdrew the security of several persons.
- This step was allegedly taken in absence of any proper investigation and subsequently, led to the murder of Sidhu Moosewala.
- This step by the authorities has caused massive outrage amongst the general public. #justiceformoosewala is doing rounds on social media platforms.
- Meanwhile, Lawrence Bishnoi, the suspect in Sidhu Moosewala killing, has approached the Delhi High Court asking for security arrangements on him, fearing an encounter by the Punjab Police.
- Bishnoi, who is currently serving his sentence in a MCOCA case in Tihar jail, asked the Court to give directions to the Tihar Jail authorities to intimate Bishnoi's lawyers before handing him over to any other state police.
- He further claimed that the Punjab State Police is trying to falsely implicate him in the Moosewala murder.
- On Wednesday, Bishnoi's lawyers withdrew this plea and said that the same will be filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
- In light of the Moosewala Murder Case, a row of petitions have been moved before the HC challenging the decision of the authorities to withdraw their security.
- In the current matter [Om Prakash Soni v. State of Punjab & Ors.], the Government was asked to furnish relevant material in a sealed cover for Court's perusal to find out the basis of the security withdrawal.
- What remains to be seen is whether the State Government authorities will take responsibility for its careless decision made in this regard or will the Court have to face a series of blame-game
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