The Allahabad High Court.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Prayagraj (UP): The Allahabad High Court has directed the CBI to investigate alleged irregularities at the photo identification centre of the high court and submit a report in a sealed cover by November 4.
Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh passed the order while hearing a revision petition filed by one Gurinder who claimed that he was falsely implicated by his wife in an attempt to murder case as he was in Prayagraj at the time of the incident of the alleged offence.
In his support, the husband provided a coupon from the centre bearing his photo as well as the date and time showing his presence here.
During the hearing, the petitioner's wife claimed that he got his photograph clicked at the photo identification centre on a back date to use it as an alibi before the court that he was not one of the accused who fired gunshots at her in Amroha on May 12, 2022, at around 11.22 am as he was getting his photograph clicked in Prayagraj.
The wife alleged that due to malpractices at the centre, anyone can get a coupon of back date by changing the date and time in the software generating coupon bearing the photograph and thumb impression of a litigant.
She also placed before the court a coupon bearing her photograph and date of May 12, 2022 -- the date on which she was attacked and seriously injured at Amroha.
She claimed that in June 2023 she visited the centre and managed to get the coupon of back date for herself by giving Rs 3,000 to a man whom she met near the centre, though on that very date, gunshots were fired at her and she was badly injured at Amroha.
After hearing both parties, the court in its order dated September 24 observed, "Accordingly, the Joint Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, Lucknow, is directed to depute any officer to conduct an inquiry in the matter and submit a report before this Court by the next date in a sealed cover." The court fixed November 4, 2024, as the next date for hearing.