New Delhi: The Supreme Court today ordered the protection of all travel records related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Punjab that was marred by an alleged security lapse leading to the PM’s returning to the airport without attending scheduled events.
Hearing senior advocate Maninder Singh’s PIL that sought a court-monitored probe, the Supreme Court has directed the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High courts to secure and preserve the travel records of Modi during his Punjab visit.
A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana also directed that the separate investigations ordered by the Punjab government and the Centre be paused till Monday.
The security lapse is a ‘rarest of the rare’ case that could cause potential international embarrassment, the Centre told the Supreme Court, backing a petition calling for a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta came down heavily on the lapse, calling it an ‘international embarassment’.
The political row over the unprecedented incident has deepened with the Central government promising tough action for the lapse, while the Congress continued to reject allegations that the Prime Minister was put in harm’s way.