Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to remove Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu and Kangra Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri from their current posts and transfer them somewhere else. The court has passed the order on the complaint of businessman Nishant Sharma, who belongs to Kangra, so that the above officers do not get any chance to influence the police investigation. Nishant Sharma had complained about his harassment.
A 17-page order has been issued by the double bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua in the case related to the complaint filed by businessman Nishant Sharma.
While pronouncing the order, the court made it clear that they were, however, not expressing any opinion on the merits of the parties’ claims as the investigation in the case was still not complete.
While issuing the order, the court also said that it is not known why the Home Secretary turned a blind eye to this matter. The court said that in the interest of justice and to ensure impartiality of the investigation and also keeping in mind the principle that justice should not only be done but justice should also be seen to be done.
Directing the Home Secretary to transfer both the IPS officers to some other post, the High Court said, “We are of the opinion that it would be desirable that the Director General of Police of Himachal Pradesh (dgp of himachal pradesh) and Kangra SP be transferred. Should be done so that it can be ensured that there is a fair investigation in the FIR registered.”
It is noteworthy that the High Court had passed an interim order converting the email sent by Nishant Sharma on October 28, 2023 into a criminal writ petition in which SP Shimla and SP Kangra were ordered to provide proper security to the applicant. Businessman Nishant Sharma had said, in the mail sent to the High Court , that he and his family are in danger to their lives as they have been attacked in Gurugram in Haryana as well as in McLeodganj in Himachal. Sharma had sought the court’s intervention on the grounds that he needed protection from powerful people as he lived in constant fear of being killed.
Only after the court took cognizance, the FIR was registered on the basis of allegations made by Nishant Sharma in Kangra district.
During the last hearing, it was told by Kangra SP that the investigation into the allegations made in the FIR lodged on the complaint of applicant Nishant Sharma has been handed over to the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP, Kangra) of the district. Whereas SP Shimla had expressed suspicion of involvement of senior people in this case. SP Shimla’s investigation prima facie found that DGP Sanjay Kundu was in touch with an influential person mentioned by the businessman. Investigation also found that the DGP made 15 missed calls to Nishant on October 27. Also, the DGP kept surveillance on the businessman while SP Kangra did not give any reason for the delay in filing the FIR in the case.
