In a stern rebuke to the Kapurthala police, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) for failing to arrest a proclaimed offender for more than six years.
The court ordered the amount to be deposited in the Punjab Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
The case pertains to Rajesh Mahajan, against whom a fraud case was registered at Kapurthala police station on August 31, 2017. His anticipatory bail pleas were rejected three times, and in 2019, the Kapurthala trial court declared him a fugitive. However, despite the proclamation, the police made no meaningful effort to apprehend him in the years that followed.
The matter came under scrutiny once again when Mahajan recently moved the High Court for bail. Seeking clarity, the bench directed the Kapurthala SSP to file a response. In his affidavit, the SSP conceded that serious lapses had occurred at the level of the investigating officers.
Taking a tough stand, the High Court ordered the accused to surrender before the trial court and apply for bail. At the same time, it held the SSP responsible for gross negligence, slapped a monetary penalty, and directed that departmental action be initiated against all investigating officers and station house officers (SHOs) connected to the case since 2019. The court has mandated that such proceedings be completed within three months.
"The ruling sends a strong signal on police accountability, with the High Court observing that the prolonged inaction had undermined the criminal justice process and allowed the accused to evade the law for years", say, a Jalandhar-based activist.