On Thursday, the investigation report by Delhi Police in the case of the PM’s security breach revealed that Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, chief of banned pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) was directly involved in delivering the threat messages to several lawyers of the Supreme Court on the day of hearing of the case. The Police said Pannu had used a US-based telecom service to make life-threatening calls to the lawyers.
According to the Indian Express report, the Delhi Police contacted the service provider under a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) to know that the SFJ chief had later changed his name only after being informed about the probe. “After establishing Pannu’s role, the police are now procuring more details under MLAT and communicating with the concerned agency for further help,” an officer was quoted. The Police also said that all the documents of the account holder required to make the call belonged to Pannu but the account name differed.
Several Supreme Court lawyers in the month of January had complained of receiving an anonymous automated pre-recorded call from +447418365564. The caller warned the top court judges to refrain from hearing the case of security breach on the alleged grounds that the Supreme Court had not been able to punish the culprits of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) then had written to the Secretary-General of the Supreme Court seeking action against anonymous caller, who took responsibility for PM Modi’s security breach in Punjab on January 5. Also, Delhi Police had registered an FIR in the case under Sections 153, 153-A, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code read with Sections 13, 16, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The lawyers however continued to receive the threatening calls, this time warning the advocates. “First we warn advocates. The issue was between PM Modi and Sikhs, but you have filed complaint against SFJ (and) put yourself in a dangerous position. Now we will hold anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh Supreme Court advocates accountable,” the calls warned. The call specifically asked Supreme Court Judges to refrain from hearing the petition on the blockade of PM Modi’s cavalcade.
This lawyers were threatened after the Supreme Court directed to set up a committee headed by Justice Indu Malhotra to investigate the security breach matter. The top court had said that the panel would inquire the causes of the security breach and also measures to be taken in future to prevent security breach of the Prime Minister and other constitutional functionaries.
On January 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cavalcade was stalled for about 20 minutes on a flyover in Punjab owing to farmers blocking the flyover. A huge security breach occurred when private automobiles were spotted approaching the cavalcade. According to the MHA, the Punjab government failed to deploy adequate security to ensure the safety of any road traffic. Reportedly, SFJ has taken responsibility for the road blockade.
