On
August 6, the Supreme Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
to conduct a preliminary enquiry into allegations against the Chandigarh police
concerning the arrest of Mohit Dhawan, a dentist based in Chandigarh.
The
directive was issued by a bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and
Ahsanuddin Amanullah, who were hearing a petition from the Union Territory of
Chandigarh.
The petition challenged a March 2023 order
from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had directed the formation of a
Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the Punjab police to investigate, among
other things, the alleged 'abduction' of Dhawan by UT police personnel.
Dhawan
was initially charged in a cheating case in 2018 after Gertrude D'Souza, a US
citizen, filed a complaint following a dental implant procedure at his clinic
in 2017. Another cheating case was filed against him in September 2020 by Enid
Nayabundi, a resident of Nairobi, Kenya.
Seeking anticipatory bail, Dhawan approached
the High Court, where he alleged that he was being pressured into compromising
on two other First Information Reports (FIRs) and being obstructed by police
officials from participating in the investigation.
He
accused the police of abduction and tampering with evidence, implicating Rakesh
Asthana, the then Delhi Police Commissioner and former CBI Special Director.
While
granting Dhawan interim protection, the High Court also directed the Punjab
police chief to form an SIT to investigate the alleged abduction by UT police
personnel.
The Union Territory then appealed against this
order in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court observed that the case had
deviated significantly from constitutional and legal norms, impacting personal
liberty. Consequently, the Court instructed the CBI to carry out a preliminary
enquiry based on the facts presented in Dhawan's complaint dated 3 February,
2022.
The
Court emphasized that the enquiry should be strictly limited to the specifics
of the complaint to avoid a broad or unfocused investigation.
