SC Board To Summon ADGP

With the growing number of grievances from the state of Punjab, mostly of police inactiveness, progressing to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, the latter has determined to summon the additional director general of police (ADGP, law and order), citing deprived conformity of polices destined for shielding SCs.

Mr. Raj Kumar Verka, vice-chairman of the commission, who was here to investigate an objection by an MBBS pupil, Anmolpreet Singh, against a Rajindra Medical College faculty associate, Dr. Harsimran Singh. Verka ordered the registration of an FIR against the doctor for allegedly making casteist remarks against the student.

“Enough is enough. Every day, there is a video showing policemen beating someone or not bothering to register cases despite evidence. Law and order in Punjab is deteriorating. SCs and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are mostly at the receiving end. For this, the custodian of law and order is responsible, so I have decided to summon the ADGP (law and order),” said Verka.

He said the commission had thus far obtained almost 10,000 complaints from the state in the last 2 years or so, mostly linked to the police department.

In the meantime, the commission, after taping reports of a variety of parties and getting the investigatory report from the medical college principal, has placed order to the Patiala SSP to lodge an FIR against Dr Harsimran Singh, assistant professor, ophthalmology, for supposedly making casteist remarks against a pupil, Anmolpreet, in the classroom.

“I have also asked the SSP form a squad led by at least a DSP-rank officer and forward the action-taken report within a period of 7 days,” added Verka.

The report of the college’s 3-member investigation group has detected Dr Harsimran blameworthy of utilizing foul language in the classroom and talking against the SC proviso arrangement.

‘One-sided investigation’

The Punjab entity of the All India Equality Forum of Government Medical/Dental Colleges has called Verka’s investigation biased.

“We are not happy with the query into the so-called incident. Neither the physician nor his witnesses have been offered the chance to give their report,” read the PR forarded by Dr Gurmeet Singh Bhagowalia, president of the unit.