Suspended IAS officer challenges trial in graft case

In a plea moved through his counsel A S Sukhija and Rajneesh Sharma before Special Judge S K Garg,Janjua claimed that “no VB police station exists in Mohali”,where the FIR against him was shown as registered. “The so-called imaginary,non-existing and fictitious police station was instead the office of VB SP as per the government notification dated December 19,2002 ,” Janjua submitted while presenting a copy of the said notification.

Admitting his plea,the Special Court issued notice to the VB to file a reply on September 10 when the court hears the matter again. Janjua contended: “Neither VB police station nor VB SP office actually exist in Mohali,which was also evident from the FIR,wherein ‘place of occurrence’ in which ‘direction and distance of place of occurrence from police station’ has to recorded,has been left blank.”

He further submitted that of the total five units of Punjab VB Flying Squad-I,four were located in Chandigarh and one in Ludhiana while “none is located in Mohali,where FIR against him was shown as registered”. Challenging the challan presented against him,Janjua said: “It was mentioned in challan that I was taken to VB police station; but it was totally false as I was never taken to any such police station. Rather,the entire investigation was conducted in Chandigarh by confining me in a secret place in Sector 17.”

Further pointing out that contrary to the official notification,the VB SP had mentioned in the challan that his “office was located in Chandigarh”,Janjua contended that the court cannot take cognisance of the challan submitted by the in-charge or his superior of an “non-existent” police station.

Claiming that his Right to Life and Personal Liberty guaranteed by the Constitution has been “violated by VB” through “violation of due procedure of law”,Janjua averred that “police station was the foundation on which the whole edifice of criminal law has been built and if there was no police station as in his case then the whole criminal case must crash to the ground”.

Referring to another official notification dated November 17,2003,wherein Mohali Special Court was empowered to try offences registered at VB police station in Mohali,which he claimed was “never notified under Section 2(s) of the CrPC”,Janjua argued that it would be “illegal” to take cognisance of any offence registered at a “fictitious” police station.

Also challenging the court’s jurisdiction,Janjua submitted that as per the prosecution,the trap to arrest him was laid in Chandigarh and he was arrested from Sector 17,following which the local court does not have “jurisdiction to try the offence,which took place outside territorial limits of Punjab”.