Moga molestation case: Punjab and Haryana HC bench recuses from hearing

Chandigarh: A Punjab and Haryana High Court bench on Monday recused itself from hearing the Moga incident in which a minor girl was allegedly molested and pushed out of a moving bus causing her fatal injuries.

As the matter came up for hearing before the division bench of justices Satish Kumar Mittal and Harinder Singh Sidhu today, it withdrew from the matter and referred it to the Chief Justice to be assigned to some other bench.

The court had taken suo motu cognizance of the case after a letter was written by a senior citizen on the incident.

No reason was given for recusing from the matter.

Now the Acting Chief Justice of the high court will decide which bench will take up the case.

Meanwhile, Congress has called for a bandh in Moga today to protest against the incident. 

The shocking incident took place last week after the victim, along with her mother, was pushed off a moving bus after they resisted the molestation attempt.

The bus, in which the incident took place, is owned by the family of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The family of the 13-year-old victim had initially refused to cremate her body and compensation demanding that a case should be registered against the owners of the bus service including Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Punjab CM had yesterday met the family of the victim for around 30 minutes and called the incident “intolerable” and “painful”.

The last rites of the victim were performed yesterday evening at her native village in Punjab amid tight security. The victim's family later agreed to take the compensation of Rs 24 lakh after the intervention of the Punjab Chief Minister.

(With PTI Inputs)