More than two months after the Punjab Police found itself in the dock for “making a dead man talk”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for an affidavit with details of officers concerned involved in the investigation of the matter.

Taking up the matter, Justice Sumeet Goel directed IPS officer and Ludhiana Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rupinder Singh – present in the Court – to file an affidavit disclosing “the names of all the concerned officers, who have investigated/supervised the investigation of the FIR in question”.

Justice Goel also fixed the matter for further hearing on August 3.

The Bench, on a previous date of hearing, had admonished the state police for relying on a witness statement allegedly recorded months after he had died. “The situation appears to be inexplicable,” Justice Goel had asserted while flagging the glaring anomaly.

The controversy arose after a senior counsel pointed out that the police, while presenting the challan, had relied upon a statement dated September 19, 2025, of a person — despite his death on May 29, 2025.

Taking serious note of the timeline that apparently defied logic, procedure, and the most basic tenets of criminal investigation, Justice Goel directed the Special Director-General of Police (Law & Order), Punjab, to look into the matter before filing a report by way of an affidavit.

Further tightening the scrutiny, Justice Goel directed the Station House Officer concerned to remain present along with the case diary on the next date of hearing making it clear that accountability might not stop at paperwork.

Justice Goel also kept open the question of transferring the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation, indicating that the matter could escalate beyond the state police’s domain if the explanation failed to satisfy judicial scrutiny. “The question, as to whether further investigation of the FIR in question be handed over to CBI, is kept open,” the Bench asserted.

The court was subsequently told that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been constituted to re-examine the case.

“Considering the gravity of the discrepancies adduced in the investigation of the FIR, the Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, vide his orders dated May 6 constituted a four-member SIT under the chairmanship of a DIG-rank senior IPS officer to ensure professional, transparent and lapse-proof investigation of the said case,” Justice Goel’s Bench was told.

An FIR in the matter was registered in August last year for murder and other offences at a police station in Ludhiana under Sections 103,61-2 and of the 238 BNS. The matter was placed before Justice Goel’s Bench after an accused moved the court seeking anticipatory bail.