Jaspreet Talwar is a forthright Civil servant of the State of Punjab with impeccable integrity.

It is shocking to learn that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, exercising the powers of the Civil Court under Article 338(8) of the constitution of India has ordered the arrest of Jaspreet Talwar IAS currently serving as Principal Secretary, Department of School Education, Govt of Punjab.

The Court officer of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes under the direction of the Commission has sent the Warrants of Arrest to the Director General of Police, Punjab with the direction to arrest Jaspreet Talwar IAS and produce her in the Chamber of the Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes at 11.00 AM on 17th of January 2023 at NCSC Headquarters in Delhi.

Notwithstanding the statutory powers of the commission to issue a warrant of Arrest for the non-compliance of the Commission’s order, but in the case of Ms. Jaspreet Talwar the action of the NCSC is seemingly brutally harsh.

Whereas It is categorically mentioned in the text of the warrant that Ms. Jaspreet Talwar Principal Secretary, Department of School Education, Govt of Punjab was duly served with summon to attend the hearing before the commission on 02.01.2023, but she failed to attend the hearing. Therefore, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, exercising the powers of the Civil Court under Article 338(8) of the constitution of India has ordered the arrest of Jaspreet Talwar IAS currently serving as Principal Secretary, Department of School Education, Govt. of Punjab.

Though I’m not privy to the reasons as to why Jaspreet Talwar was unable to attend the hearing of the commission as required by its summons, she may be having some cogent reason for not being able to comply with the order of the commission on a stipulated date and time. Moreover it’s the first chance of the Civil Servant therefore in view of the natural justice Talwar must be given a fair opportunity to explain her inability to skip the meeting of the Commission.

Jaspreet Talwar is a forthright Civil servant of the State of Punjab with impeccable integrity and she has served the State of Punjab and its people in a finest manner with utmost dignity and honesty. Therefore I would beseech the majesty of the Commission, to relook in to the issuance of the Arrest warrants and rather She must be given a date to appear at her own before the commission.

I would urge the Chairman of the NCSC, Vijay Sampla to revisit the whole issue with wisdom and compassion and if it is feasible within the ambit of law then without any malice and prejudice against the officer in question, the Arrest Warrant must be quashed or withdrawn, under the accepted principles of transparent fairness and Natural justice.

___________

Also Read:

Industrialization versus Environmental Degradation

75 years of hope and despair

Centre’s Opaque Auction Rules For Pulses Rip Off Govt Coffers, Help Millers Strike Rich

Need to amend laws like UAPA to provide for punishment for those who slap false cases

Global Arms Trade: Who are the real winners?

Why not 40 pc tickets for women in Punjab and elsewhere?

Punjab – How a deadly cocktail of Agri-Water-Energy nexus going to destroy it?

North Pole and the ideological conflict of RSS & Hindutva

Politics of Symbolism: Dalit Chief Ministers in India