High court orders CBI probe into bribery charge by NRI

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe an NRI’s bribery allegation against an officer of the rank of superintendent of police (SP) of Phagwara. While issuing the directions, Justice Rajan Gupta has also directed that responsible official be deputed to attend the court on the next date of hearing. The petitioner NRI, Manila-based Bhagwant Rai, however is no more.
Taking up his petition, the HC in 2012 had ordered an inquiry into the allegations.However, during the hearing of the case, the petitioner died in Manila. When the matter came up for hearing, the state government requested the court to dismiss the petition on account of the death of the petitioner. Considering the seriousness of the allegations levelled in the petition, Justice Gupta, however, had made it clear that the proceedings of the case would continue.
The matter would now come up for further hearing on August 30. Justice Gupta passed these orders while hearing Rai’s petition who was allegedly forced to pay Rs 5 lakh as ‘bribe’ by the Phagwara SP after the cop threatened to implicate him in a false case. In his plea before the HC, Bansal had sought directions for a CBI probe into the entire incident.
According to the petitioner, he had come from Manila to meet his family in India. On reaching he received a notice from the city police station Phagwara informing him that a complaint has been filed against him. In his plea filed in 2012, the petitioner had also informed that he had to pay a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to the officer.