The High Court has expunged certain comments made by the then District and Sessions Judge Kaithal against woman IPS officer Aastha Modi during her posting as SP Kaithal in September 2018. Also, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that the test laid down by the Apex Court has not been followed while making the observations made by the Sessions Court. The High Court said that the Sessions Judge had failed to follow the prescribed procedure for summoning the petitioner.

The court said that the petitioner is not a party in that case, no notice was issued to him and no opportunity was given to him to present his side before punishing him. The High Court held that the adverse comments against the petitioner are unfair and unnecessary. The High Court has no hesitation in concluding that the observations recorded by the Sessions Court should be deleted.

The court of Justice Suvir Sehgal has passed this order while accepting the petition of Haryana cadre IPS officer Aastha Modi. Aastha Modi had approached the High Court on September 27, 2018, seeking directions to delete the comments made against her by then Sessions Judge Kaithal.

Aastha Modi's contention was that no opportunity was provided to the petitioner before passing the disputed comment, which is necessary. Despite the fact that the petitioner had provided the information sought by the Sessions Court, but without considering the same, the Court put the petitioner in the dock without giving him an opportunity of being heard or issuing a show cause notice.

The petitioner told the High Court that during the hearing of anticipatory bail in a case, the then Sessions Judge Kaithal, in his order dated September 12, 2028, had directed SP (petitioner) Kaithal to file an affidavit giving details of the complaints, Whether he was marked to CIA Kaithal or other police stations after July 1, 2018 and what was the rationale behind giving the complaint.

In response, the petitioner had said that out of total 4003 complaints received since July 2018 through Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTN), 3904 complaints were marked to various police stations and 99 complaints were marked to CIA, which are pending. . The SP further said that it was not possible to ascertain how many of the complaints were of similar nature to the one lodged by the person who had approached the sessions court for anticipatory bail.

This Court expresses its displeasure over the conduct of SP Kaithal, which endangered the liberty of a man by pushing him towards an illegal extortion racket run by the police. When SP Kaithal was caught on the wrong foot by this Court, he should have realized his mistake, repented of it and given an assurance to this Court not to repeat the same in future, but instead tried to vindicate the same. to do.

This does not present all pleasant aspects. This Court advises SP Kaithal to not only refrain from indulging in such acts in future but also ensure that none of his subordinates dare to do so.