CASE PERTAINS TO ILLEGALLY OBTAINING A WOMAN’S CALL DETAIL RECORDS
Face2News/Chandigarh:
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the police to register an FIR against Punjab Police officer Inspector Gagandeep Singh, who was earlier posted as Station House Officer (SHO) at Zirakpur and is now heading the Parvi Cell, for allegedly obtaining the call detail records (CDR) of a woman in an unrelated case.
According to details, the order was passed by Justice Alok Jain of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 15 while hearing a petition filed by Mohali resident Mrs.Deepshikha Gurung, who had sought protection for her life and liberty. Inspector Gagandeep Singh has been accused not only of illegally procuring Mrs.Gurung’s CDR in an unrelated case but also of handing them over to Mrs.Premjeet Kaur, with whom he was allegedly colluding.
On August 27, during an earlier hearing, it was also brought to Justice Jain’s notice that the said officer was present in court. The court then directed an inquiry into how many times, in his capacity as head of the Parvi Cell, he had visited the High Court. If it was found that he came on August 27th solely to follow this particular case, stern action would be taken against him.
As per submissions, the petitioner Mrs.Gurung, through her counsel Advocate Jatin Bansal, alleged that when the officer was SHO, he inserted her phone number in an unknown FIR and obtained her call detail records, even though she was neither an accused nor a party in that FIR. It was further alleged that after obtaining these records, he passed them on to the co-respondents, who are colluding with him and harassing the petitioner.
It is noteworthy that during the hearing on August 27th, Justice Jain had sought a report from the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP). However, he also observed that the respondent police officer himself was present in court. The court noted the State’s counsel’s submission that the officer had been appointed as head of the Parvi Cell. Consequently, the court ordered a check on his court attendance records to ascertain whether he appeared only to follow this case.
During the hearing, Additional Advocate General of Punjab, Amandeep Singh Samra, submitted that the SSP was already conducting an inquiry into the matter and the petitioner had been called to record her statement. He assured the court that the officer would be dealt with strictly in accordance with law.
On the other hand, Advocate Jatin Bansal reiterated that Mrs.₹Gurung was being pressured by Inspector Gagandeep Singh and co-respondents Mrs.Premjeet Kaur to withdraw both her complaint and the present petition.
After hearing both sides and considering the assurance given by the State’s counsel that the SSP was investigating the matter, Justice Jain fixed October 01st as the next date of hearing.