Punjab Minister in Sexual Abuse Row: National Commission for Scheduled Castes Summons State Officials

Two weeks after the Punjab Police filed a ‘report taken’ in the case of alleged sexual misconduct by Minister Lal Chand Kattaruchak to the National Scheduled Caste Commission (NCSC), the constitutional body has asked state government officials to appear for a hearing at its headquarters in New Delhi on July 31.

After receiving a strong notice for a complainant who alleged sexual misconduct by Kataruchak, the Commission, on the orders of its Chairman Vijay Sambla, on May 5 issued a notice to the concerned government officials and requested them to file a case report and provide security to the man who had allegedly received threatening calls from Minister. This notice was followed by two more, on May 25 and June 5.

Subsequently, the Amritsar frontier DIG submitted a ‘taken report’ to the committee on 12 June. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) said the complainant had retracted his statement and therefore no action could be taken against the minister. Clean Discord caused an uproar with the opposition claiming that the complainant had retracted his statement under duress.

The Commission has asked the General Secretary, Director General of Police and Deputy Inspector General of Police of the Amritsar Frontier District to appear before it at 11 am on July 31 in New Delhi. It also asked the investigating officer in the case to attend the hearing.

The commission instructed officials to bring an updated case report and other relevant documents, including files, case notes, etc. It said the petitioner may also be required to be present in the panel on the day of the hearing.