The case has been listed in the court cause list for Wednesday under the heading for a “miscellaneous” hearing. Any orders passed would also include the modalities to be followed by the probe team and the names of officers of the centre and state governments who will do the actual fact-finding.
The court had said that it would appoint a retired top court judge to deal with the issue which has sparked off friction between the Congress ruled state and the BJP ruled central government.
Apprehensive of a federal standoff which may culminate in much ill will between two sides and also cause tension in the sensitive border state of Punjab, the court, led by CJI N.V. Ramana, had held a quick hearing and decided to appoint an independent committee rather than allow each government to have a probe of its own.
While Punjab denied the charge of deliberately not ensuring the PM’s security, the central government blamed the state for the huge security lapse which had allowed crowds to come within 100 meters of the PM’s convoy.
A PIL had been filed by a lawyers’ outfit seeking an independent probe into the issue so that such incidents do not recur in the future. SG Tushar Mehta had backed the PIL and urged the top court to step in and deal with the very serious issue.
Punjab on its part had sought protection from any central probe that may apportion the blame on it or its officials. The state had also sought a stay on the show cause notices issued by the centre against its top officers.
The court had restrained the centre from going ahead with the probe. The probe team assisted by officers who did not deal with the PM’s security will eventually submit a report on the issue to the top court.
The court will then pass orders fixing responsibility for the lapses and also order action to ensure that the incident is never repeated again. That would require plugging all loopholes that come to light.