The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a former Punjab jail officer for conspiring to help an undertrial prisoner escape in 2010. The Court said the officer “actively undermined the justice system” and must face the full sentence.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India, on August 11, 2025, gave its final verdict in a sensational Punjab jail conspiracy case, confirming the conviction of a former jail officer for helping an undertrial prisoner attempt to escape police custody.
A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan agreed with the findings of both the Sessions Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had earlier convicted the officer in connection with a violent 2010 attack on police personnel escorting a prisoner to court.
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The case goes back to November 30, 2010, when two head constables were taking an undertrial prisoner to Talwandi Sabo Court. The accused officer joined them and suggested they should go back in a private Toyota Qualis instead of the police vehicle.
While they were travelling near a village, two unidentified men sitting at the rear suddenly attacked — throwing red chilli powder into the eyes of the police escorts and hitting them with a knife and a kirpan.
However, the prisoner could not escape as he was handcuffed and chained to one of the head constables’ belts. The injured officers, along with the prisoner, were rushed to a hospital, and an FIR was filed. Interestingly, the accused officer remained unharmed during the attack and later disappeared from the scene.
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In 2014, the trial court found clear evidence that the jail officer had arranged the private vehicle, made sure the journey stopped at an isolated spot, failed to defend the escorting policemen, and ran away after the attack. The court said all this behaviour proved his part in the conspiracy. In 2023, the High Court upheld this verdict, after which the officer appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, after looking at all the facts — arranging the private car, sitting in the front seat, having unknown people in the vehicle, the secluded stop, the attack, the absence of any injury to the officer, and his disappearance — said that there was clear proof of “concert of action” between him and the attackers.
The judges reminded that in such cases, it is rare to have direct evidence, and guilt is usually proved through logical inferences drawn from the actions and the situation.
They also pointed out the serious breach of trust when a custodial officer commits such acts. As the Bench stated:
“As a public servant entrusted with safeguarding the rule of law and the custody of prisoners, he did not merely default in his duties – he actively undermined the justice system. When public functionaries betray the institutional trust, the consequences are profound and far-reaching. In a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law, custodial officers must be held to the highest standards of integrity. Any deviation amounts not only to legal delinquency, but to a grave institutional and moral breach.”
With no reason to reduce the punishment, the Supreme Court dismissed the officer’s appeal and ordered that he be taken into custody immediately to serve the rest of his sentence.
- The accused was represented by M/S Delhi Law Chambers along with advocates AK Walia and Debjani Das Purkayastha.
- The State was represented by advocates Karan Sharma, Mohit Siwach, and Chetan Manchanda.
CASE TITLE:
Gurdeep Singh vs. The State of Punjab
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