SC appoints Justice (retd) Indu Malhotra to head probe into PM Modi's security lapse

The independent committee will inquire into the causes of the security breach, persons responsible for it and the measures to be taken in future for preventing such security breaches of VVIPs.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 12, 2022) set up a committee headed by a retired top court judge, Justice Indu Malhotra to investigate the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit on January 5.

The SC-constituted panel will have Justice (retd) Indu Malhotra, Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Director General of Security of Punjab and Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court as its members.

The apex court, while setting up an independent committee, said that the panel will inquire into the causes of the security breach, persons responsible for it and the measures to be taken in future for preventing such security breaches of VVIPs.

In 2018, Indu Malhotra was officially appointed as the judge of the Supreme Court of India. Her appointment was historic as she was the first woman lawyer to be directly elevated from the Bar. 

Earlier on January 5 this year, PM Narendra Modi, who was travelling by road in Punjab, was stuck on a flyover for 15-20 minutes on his way to Ferozpur due to blockade by some protesters, an incident the Union Home Ministry described as a "major lapse" in his security. 

The prime minister was on his way to the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala from Bathinda when the incident occurred. After a major security lapse in PM's travel in Punjab, his convoy decided to head back to Bathinda airport.