High court raps Punjab for 'glorifying crime'; orders new probe into Bishnoi's jail interview

The investigation will be conducted by a three-member team led by Human Rights Commission chief Prabodh Kumar.

The high court gave this order while responding to a cancellation report filed by the Special Investigation Team in the Bishnoi jail interview case.

Pointing out that the interview was "an apparent jail security breach", the court flagged the extended time, over eight months, taken for cops to submit "an inconclusive report". The high court bench expressed its concerns over a "possible criminal conspiracy" between Punjab cops and Bishnoi.

Bishnoi in limelight

Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently lodged in Gujarat's Sabarmati jail, is in the limelight after the recent murder of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddiqui, who was considered to be close to Bollywood actor Salman Khan. Bishnoi also shot into prominence after he made death threats to Salman Khan over the killing of black bucks which is sacred to the Bishnoi community.

Though he has been in jail since 2014, his gang was allegedly linked to NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique's murder in Mumbai. A member claiming to be from the gang said on social media that the Bishnoi gang had carried out the killing.

Also read: Lawrence Bishnoi interview: 7 Punjab Police personnel suspended

Seven cops suspended

A few days ago, the Punjab government finally suspended seven cops for the Lawrence Bishnoi intervew in jail, five of the seven suspended officers were of a junior rank - only two officers of Deputy Superintendent-rank, Gursheer Singh and Sammer Vaneet.

The court rebuked police officials for providing a 'studio-like facility' for Bishnoi to conduct the interview, all of which, it added "tends to glorify crime with the potential to facilitate other crimes, including extortion by the criminal and his associates."

It also pulled up the Punjab government for failing to follow its August 2024 order to take disciplinary action against senior officers who had allowed Bishnoi's interview to happen. The court warned the Punjab government not to make "scapegoats" of junior officers.

However, the involvement of senior cops suggests "illegal gratification from the criminal..." the court observed.

Also read: High-tech comms, arms-dropping drones: How Bishnoi runs ops from jail

Interview resurfacing online

The court was also angry that copies of the interview were resurfacing online despite their December order that had to be removed from all social media platforms. "These interviews are stated to have garnered over 12 million views. It would have an adverse impact upon youngsters with impressionable minds," pointed out the court, adding that Punjab is a border state and any deterioration in law and order or increase in crime could affect national security.

Copies of the interview resurfaced online after Baba Siddiqui's murder.

Further, the court pointed out that in the interview, Bishnoi, who is "involved in 71 cases in the State of Punjab and convicted in four cases, which includes offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (which is the anti-terror law)", was "justifying target killings and his criminal activities".

He has repeated and justified his death threats to a film actor, said the bench, referring to Bishnoi's threats to Salman Khan.