SC asks CBI to probe ‘abduction’ of dentist by Chandigarh Police

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry to probe the alleged abduction of a dentist by Chandigarh Police personnel to prevent him from appearing in a court.

A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said it was not inclined to interfere with a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that directed for the registration of an FIR and setting up of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the issue.

The court, however, said an enquiry into the matter may be entrusted with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an independent probe.

“After hearing the rival submissions at the Bar, we are of the opinion that although this matter springs from a complaint at the hands of foreign nationals who were at one time patients of the respondent, but thereafter, it may have taken a course in utter violation of the Constitution and laws and therefore, an independent investigation is indeed required to clear all doubts as to the allegations as they relate to the personal liberty of a citizen.

“Accordingly, it is directed that the CBI shall conduct the Preliminary Enquiry as directed by the high court on the basis of the facts mentioned in the complaint,” the bench said.

The court asked the CBI to enquire whether the doctor was “detained or arrested” by the Chandigarh Police at the Sector 19 police station and produced before the local magistrate within 24 hours.

It will also enquire whether the “detention or arrest” of the doctor by police officials amounted to abduction.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Chandigarh administration against a March 3, 2023 order of the high court.

The apex court had earlier stayed a high court order directing the registration of an FIR and setting up of an SIT to probe the alleged abduction of the dentist by Chandigarh Police personnel to prevent him from appearing in a court.

Dhawan, a Chandigarh-based dentist, had filed a suit for the recovery of some outstanding dues owed to him by a woman from Nairobi in Kenya for her treatment.

His lawyer had told the court that due to this, the dentist was implicated in a series of complaints about improper treatment allegedly provided to the woman.

“Three separate complaints were filed against him and in two of those, he managed to get anticipatory bail. In the third one, he was asked to be present before a magistrate. But on the day of the hearing, he was abducted by a team of the Chandigarh Crime Branch Police, while another team marked their appearance in court,” his lawyer had said.

The administration said the case relates to Dhawan, against whom a criminal case was lodged after the Nairobi national accused him of cheating her when she came to India in 2017-18 to get dental implants from his clinic.

When Dhawan went to mark his presence before a magistrate’s court, he was allegedly abducted by a Chandigarh Police team, which claimed that he was arrested in connection with another case.

On March 3, 2023, the high court asked the Punjab director general of police (DGP) to constitute the SIT within a week.

“This case not only has the potential to shake the confidence of the common man in the administration of justice, but if incidents, as alleged by the petitioner, are found to be true, the conduct of police officers would amount to subverting the course of justice by causing interference in the implementation of orders passed by the courts,” the high court had said.