CHANDIGARH: The family of serving army Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday and reiterated their demand for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). On Monday, they will meet Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and if they do not receive justice, their protest, which is "temporarily suspended" now, will resume.
Two days ago, the Punjab and Haryana High Court questioned the state government over the delay in registering a First Information Report (FIR) in the assault case involving the army officer and his son.
During a 25-minute meeting with Rajnath Singh, Jaswinder Kaur, wife of Col Bath, reiterated her demand for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), emphasising that she does not trust the Patiala Police at all.
"We told Rajnath Singh about the complete incident, the brutal attack on my husband and son, and how the Punjab Police has been playing with us. He assured us that justice will be given to us and that necessary action will be taken, and over time, we will know about it," she said.
"Tomorrow, we will meet Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and see what he says. Recently, it was the CM’s daughter’s first birth, and we bless her with a lot of happiness and good health. Similarly, I am also a daughter to someone, a wife and mother. Think about it – when a daughter of the nation is coming to you, you should do justice for her. If tomorrow your own daughter faced something like this, what justice would you give her? The same justice should be given to me," she added.
Kaur continued, "We started the morcha in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Patiala, and after that, CM Mann gave us time to meet. The morcha is temporarily suspended as of now, as we were given assurance that CM Mann will meet us. If we do not get justice tomorrow, the morcha will resume. We want an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)."
She went on to say that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the case had been changed four times. "How can we expect justice from the Punjab Police?" she asked.
"We want a CBI inquiry and a fair trial. Whoever is at fault should be punished. The SSP Patiala, Nanak Singh, is scared to take the names of the four SHOs," she added.
Sources said that two days before the meeting, the family was informed by a former officer, who was tasked with notifying them about the scheduled meeting for today.
In addition to Col Bath and his wife, their relative and BJP leader from Patiala, Gurtej Singh Dhillon, accompanied the family to the meeting.
Dhillon said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh assured the family that the case is being closely monitored.
"He assured us that the Army will stand by the officer and ensure justice for Col Bath and his family," said Dhillon.
On Friday, the Punjab Government’s attempt to justify the delay in registering the FIR in the assault case, citing farmers’ protests among other reasons, backfired in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court questioned the police about the number of FIRs registered across Patiala district during the period.
The Bench asked the state to categorically explain whether the action taken so far was sufficient.
“You are not obliging anyone by placing the cops under suspension,” it had asserted.
In his detailed order, Justice Sandeep Moudgil also asked the state to file an affidavit specifying “how many FIRs were registered in Patiala district during the period when the district police was on high alert due to farmers’ protests at Khanauri border and Shambhu border of Patiala from March 18 to 23?”