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abduction on the basis of eye-witness accounts.
On 15 November 1995, Punjab’s advocate-general requested the Court to hand
over the investigation of Khalra’s abduction and disappearance to the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) as the police inquiries were getting nowhere. 12 Accordingly,
the Court directed the CBI to appoint an investigation team under a responsible
officer. The Court also took note of the allegations regarding police abductions,
disappearances and illegal cremations, made by Jaswant Singh Khalra in a
press release dated 16 January 1995. In its 15 November 1995 order instituting
these inquiries, Justice Kuldip Singh observed: “In case it is found that the facts
stated in the press note are correct – even partially – it would be a gory-tale of
human rights violations. It is horrifying to visualize that dead bodies of larger number
of persons – allegedly thousands – could be cremated by the police unceremoniously
with a label ‘unidentified’. Our faith in democracy and rule of law assures
us that nothing of the type can ever happen in this country but the allegations in the
press note – horrendous as they are – need thorough investigation. We, therefore,
direct the director, CBI to appoint a high powered team to investigate the facts
contained in the press note dated 16 January, 1995. We direct all the concerned
authorities of the State of Punjab including the DGP to render all assistance to the
CBI in the investigation… The CBI shall complete the investigation regarding the
kidnapping of Khalra within three months… So far as the second investigation is
concerned, we do not fix any time limit but direct the CBI to file interim reports…
after every three months.”
It is important to notice that the Court’s order did not set any limit to the inquiry;
territorial, numerical or by the mode of disposal of corpses. It only talked about the
gory tale of human rights violations, the horrendous allegations and the need to
12 Equivalent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the USA, the CBI is the premier investigative
agency created in 1963 under the Union home ministry. It comprises approximately 5,000 handpicked
police officials from various police cadres in the country. An offshoot of the Delhi Special Police
Establishment created by the British government during the second world war to investigate
allegations of kickbacks and corruption connected with heavy defense purchases, the CBI remained
an anti-corruption organization in its initial years. Later, it began to investigate offences relating to the
Indian Penal Code specially notified by the Central government. As the National Crime Bureau, the
CBI also coordinates with the International Criminal Police Organization [ICPO] more commonly
known as Interpol and other international police agencies. The CBI also maintains the Central Forensic
Science Laboratory, separate ballistic and polygraph divisions and the Central Fingerprints Bureau at
Calcutta.
Given its reputation for high standards of efficiency, integrity and impartiality, the Supreme Court has
been using the CBI to investigate high-profile and politically sensitive cases involving corruption in high
places. The trend started with the investigation of the Bofors deal in 1990, initiated under Prime
Minister V. P. Singh, under allegations that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his close
associates had received heavy kickbacks from the Swedish armament company. Other sensational
cases investigated by the CBI include the case of bribing members of Parliament by Prime Minister
Narasimha Rao, the St. Kitts case, Lakhubhai Pathak case also implicating Prime Minister Rao and
the Jain Hawala case that incriminated a host of important politicians across party lines in accusations
of receiving illegal funds from dubious sources.
Joginder Singh, a Sikh Indian Police Service [IPS] officer of Karnataka cadre, was the director of the
CBI when the Supreme Court referred the matter of illegal cremations to the agency. Harbans Singh,
CBI File, Roli Books International, New Delhi, 1987; Harbans Singh, The CBI File-2, Dehradun, 1989;
Joginder Singh, Without Fear or Favour: An Autobiography, Kaveri Books, New Delhi, 1998; Joginder
Singh, Inside the CBI, Chandrika Publications, New Delhi, 1999; Joginder Singh, Outside the CBI,
Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi 1999.
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