Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday dismissed as infructuous a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a CBI probe into the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh alias Jhota in Mansa, after the Punjab govt informed the court that the investigation had been transferred to the central agency.The matter was heard by a bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Rohit Kapoor on Oct 27. During the hearing, state counsel apprised the court that the investigation into Jhota’s murder had been transferred to the CBI.During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner, Hakam Singh, submitted that only the murder case had been transferred, while other issues raised in the petition, including the grant of arms and drug licences to the accused despite his alleged criminal antecedents, had not been transferred to the agency. The bench observed that the CBI could investigate all aspects mentioned in the petition and dismissed the PIL as having been rendered infructuous. A detailed order in the matter was yet to be released.The petition was filed by Hukam Singh, a resident of Sirsa, Haryana, seeking transfer of the investigation into FIR dated October 14, 2026, registered at Police Station City-2, Mansa, to the CBI under the monitoring of the HC.The petitioner also sought an independent inquiry into the grant, renewal and continuation of the drug licence of a medical store belonging to accused Ashwani Kumar, and the grant or renewal of his arms licence despite his alleged criminal antecedents. He further sought an inquiry into the alleged failure of the local police to respond to a call made by Jhota and the delay in reaching the spot and shifting the injured to hospital.
