CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday ordered Rs 20 lakh compensation to Harjit Kaur wife of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Mukhjit Singh Mukha who was shot dead by Punjab Police in 2015 in case of mistaken identity as police mistook him for a gangster.
The high court ordered the compensation to Kaur as she had approached the high court against the Punjab Government which gave her Rs 5 lakh as compensation. The remaining amount was directed to be paid within three months. Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain gave the order as the court found the Rs 5 lakh compensation given by the then state government was inadequate.
The counsel of the petitioner said that the then Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Home Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal visited the petitioner and the victim’s family before announcing compensation and a government job to the widow. The state government gave a cheque for Rs 5 lakh, which was inadequate. Moreover, till date the state government had not provided government job to the petitioner.
On June 26, 2015, 38 year old Mukha was waylaid by a team of the Punjab Police in Amritsar and was indiscriminately fired upon. He died as there were 23 gunshot wounds. The Punjab Police later set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the incident. The police team responsible for the shootout admitted that they mistook Mukha to be a gangster.
Also news items were published in leading newspapers quoting the then Amritsar Police Commissioner and other policemen that the police had killed Mukha mistaking him for a gangster.
At that time SAD-BJP Government was in power when the incident took place.