The Supreme Court delivered a major respite to former Haryana IPS officer Bharti Arora (IPS:1998:HY) on Friday in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) case. The apex court quashed summons and subsequent proceedings issued against her over an inquiry conducted on her orders in 2005. The enquiry had found that a man arrested under NDPS Act was actually innocent. But the special court went ahead to convict the man and pass the order against Arora and other officers.
The top court took strong exception to the special court passing the order against Arora, saying the judge had acted in a predetermined manner, going against the principles of natural justice, fair trial, and procedural propriety. The apex court ruled that Arora was wrongfully implicated in that case.
The case stemmed from a January 2005 narcotics bust in Kurukshetra, where 8.7 kilograms of opium were seized from a suspect, Ran Singh. Arora, being the SP of Kurukshetra, ordered an enquiry that found that Ran Singh was innocent and the opium was planted by three drug pedlars.
However, these findings were dismissed by the special judge, who convicted Ran Singh in 2007 and issued show-cause notices to Arora and other officers under the NDPS Act for allegedly fabricating evidence and misleading the investigation.
Arora, a recipient of the President’s Police Medal, had taken voluntary retirement in 2021 when she was Ambala IG.
