Tarn Taran assault: HC issues show cause notice to CRPF IG

Punjab and Haryana High Court today asked inspector general of CRPF to explain as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him for not providing security to a girl, assaulted by Punjab policemen in Tarn Taran, despite court directions.
Justice Ranjit Singh issued a show cause notice to the IG CRPF after Gurvinder Singh Sidhu, counsel for the victim, moved an application before the court that the CRPF had failed to comply with the court orders, issued on March 19 for providing protection to the victim and her relatives.
As of now, the Chandigarh Police are providing protection to the girl and her relatives as per earlier court directions.

On March 3, the 22-year-old girl and her father were allegedly thrashed by policemen when they sought action against some persons who teased the girl and passed vulgar comments in full public view in Tarn Taran district.
Appearing for the Centre, senior counsel Onkar Singh Batalvi informed the court that till date no security had been provided, but at the same time he said that the CRPF had already assigned a battalion to the Punjab government from which the security could be provided.
However, the court observed that the same reply was also submitted by the Centre earlier in the court, to which the Punjab government counsel had replied that the CRPF battalion was deployed for VVIP security and withdrawing cops from it would be at the cost of VVIP security.

The court also said that the directions to provide CRPF security were issued when Assistant Solicitor General Anmol Rattan Sidhu had no objection to providing CRPF security to the petitioners.
The case would now come up for hearing on March 25.
The incident had occurred on March 3 and the victim in her complaint had alleged that while she was returning home from a marriage function that day, a truck driver and his accomplices had passed lewd comments against her. When she and her father approached the policemen, both were mercilessly beaten up by them on duty, who allegedly accepted bribe from the accused and let them go.